NBA: Lakers book playoff date with Nuggets, Kings eliminate Warriors
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers held off a furious late rally to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 110-106 on Tuesday and book a first-round NBA playoff clash with the defending champion Denver Nuggets.
Four-time NBA champion James scored 23 points with nine rebounds, nine assists and three steals to lead the Lakers in the play-in game victory that secured the seventh seed in the Western Conference.
NBA: LeBron, Lakers take on Pelicans as NBA play-in tips off
NBA: Bucks facing Giannis injury scare as they beat Celtics
NBA: Curry, Thompson help Warriors win against Rockets, stretch win-streak to 6
The Pelicans, rocked by a late injury to star forward Zion Williamson, will have another chance to advance on Friday when they take on the Sacramento Kings.
The Kings ended the Golden State Warriors’ playoff aspirations with a resounding 118-94 victory in the second Western Conference play-in game.
At 39, James is in the playoffs for the 17th time in 21 seasons. He’ll get another shot at Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets, who swept the Lakers in the Western Conference finals on their way to the title last season.
Williamson scored 40 points and keyed the Pelicans’ rally from an 18-point third-quarter deficit.
His alley-oop dunk tied it at 93-93 but after he drove for a basket that made it 95-95 with 3:19 remaining, Williamson grimaced in pain and was soon out of the game, throwing a towel in disgust as he headed to the locker room for good.
The Pelicans kept the pressure on. They tied it twice more, but D’Angelo Russell’s three-pointer with 51.3 seconds remaining pushed the Lakers lead to four points and Los Angeles, with a timely rebound and a pair of free throws from Anthony Davis, held on for the win.
Russell drilled five of the Lakers’ 14 three-pointers on the way to 21 points. Davis scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the victory, which followed the Lakers’ win over the Pelicans on the final day of the regular season on Sunday.
“We understood after how we had played the last game that they were going to give us everything they had — the whole kitchen sink and the toolbox — and they did that,” said James.
“So it was a gritty win for us and we punched our ticket to the post-season.”
NBA: Celtics silence Thunder, clinch playoff home edge
NBA: Pritchard scores career-high 38 in Celtics win over Wizards
The Lakers will open their best-of-seven series against second-seeded Denver on Saturday.
“We like where we are, we like where the spirit of our group is,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “Everybody is excited about this challenge.”
Pelicans coach Willie Green said Williamson, who also had 11 rebounds and five assists, left the game with “left leg soreness.”
“He’s going to get some imaging tomorrow and we’ll figure out more,” Green said.
The 23-year-old power forward, whose career has been hindered by injuries, remains in search of his first playoff appearance since he entered the league as the top pick in the 2019 draft.
‘Total domination’
His status will be key against a Kings team riding high after their blowout victory over the Warriors and Stephen Curry.
“It was total domination,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted. “The offensive rebounds early in the game set a tone. They didn’t let us get into our offense.”
The Warriors narrowed a 16-point deficit to four at halftime, but were helpless as the Kings pulled away again in the second half.
Keegan Murray led the Kings’ scoring with 32 points. De’Aaron Fox added 24 and Domantas Sabonis had 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Curry shook off a slow start that saw him score just five points in the first half to finish with 22. But Klay Thompson failed to score a point as he missed all 10 of his shots.
Golden State surrendered 15 offensive rebounds and coughed up 16 turnovers in the face of the Kings’ energetic defense as Sacramento eased the memory of their heartbreaking loss to the Warriors in game seven of their first-round series last season.
“It doesn’t take away what they did to us last year at all,” Murray said. “That still stings to this day, but it kind of peels the Band-Aid off a little bit. They got us last year. We got them this year.”
News Related
-
Anyone who’s purchased gift baskets to hand out to loved ones this holiday season might need to find a backup present after the latest food recall that involves festive cookies. Gift basket company Wine Country Gift Baskets just announced that it is voluntarily recalling all gift baskets that feature Acorn Baking ...
See Details:
Recall Just Announced For Popular Cookies Featured In Holiday Gift Baskets
-
LOS ANGELES: Quarterback Jalen Hurts ran in an overtime touchdown to give the Philadelphia Eagles a 37-34 NFL win over the Buffalo Bills Sunday (Monday in Manila) and move them to 10-1 on the season. The Eagles, who lost the Super Bowl to Kansas City last season, trailed at half-time ...
See Details:
Eagles rally past Bills in overtime as Chiefs win
-
Yen Makabenta First word WHILE UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other promoters of the climate emergency are preparing to convene the 28th conference of the parties (COP28) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the United Arab Emirates, starting on November 30 and stretching to December 12, ...
See Details:
Reality bites the green energy agenda
-
Sandigan orders Marcos Sr. pal to pay workers The Sandiganbayan has ordered the enforcement of a July 2023 ruling ordering a Marcos Sr. associate to pay a lumber company’s workers P2.1 million in damages as well as return 60 percent of their company’s shares and pay all unpaid benefits. The ...
See Details:
Sandigan orders Marcos Sr. pal to pay workers
-
DSWD: Shear line, LPA affect 1.2 million people; over 18,000 families evacuated MANILA, Philippines – More than 18,000 families have fled to evacuation centers across flood-affected regions in the country due to the impact of the shear line and low pressure area. Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) gave ...
See Details:
DSWD: Shear line, LPA affect 1.2 million people; over 18,000 families evacuated
-
-
MANILA, Philippines: The entire Luzon, including Metro Manila, is expected to experience isolated rain showers and thunderstorms as the northeast monsoon (“amihan”) and easterlies will be affecting the country over the next 24 hours, the state-run weather agency said on Tuesday. Weather specialist Patrick del Mundo of the Philippine Atmospheric ...
See Details:
Rain showers, thunderstorms over Luzon, including Metro Manila — Pagasa
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
'Naruto' live-action film adaptation is in the works
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
NASA Highlights Stingray Nebula
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
Manila's Lagusnilad underpass opens
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
China probes debt-ridden financial giant
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
China's VUCA situation
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
Unraveling the mystery that is diabetes
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
Bangladesh's nuke plant is not going to steal PH investments
OTHER NEWS
ALIW Awards Foundation Inc. President Alice H. Reyes has released the names of finalists for the 2023 Aliw Awards to be presented on Dec. 11, 2023, at the Manila Hotel ...
Read more »
WhatsApp Web gains the feature of single-view photos and videos (Photo: Unsplash) The WhatsApp Web, the desktop version of the popular messaging app from Meta, has received an update allowing ...
Read more »
Young athletes’ time to shine in Siklab Awards MANILA, Philippines — The future heroes of Philippine sports will be honored during the third Siklab Youth Sports Awards on Dec. 4 ...
Read more »
Graphics by Jannielyn Ann Bigtas A local government official said Monday that five to 10 barangays in Northern Samar are still isolated following the massive flooding in the area last ...
Read more »
DyipPay app lets you pay jeepney fare, book tricycles “Barya lang po sa umaga.” Everyone who rides jeepneys knows this rule: it may not be an actual law, but it’s ...
Read more »
Updated In-Season Tournament Bracket ahead of pool play finale Tuesday will mark the last day of pool play for the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament. From there, six first-place teams and ...
Read more »
PCG forms teams for maritime emergency response MANILA, Philippines — Recent incidents of fishermen lost in the waters off Southern Tagalog have prompted the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to form ...
Read more »