The Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans kicked off the 2024 NBA Play-In Tournament with a bang. The Western Conference foes played in a game that looked like it would be a blowout early on but ended up going right down to the wire.
Los Angeles came away with a 110-106 victory, as New Orleans made them sweat in the second half. The Lakers led by as many as 18 points in the game but they were unable to put away the Pelicans until the waning moments.
On several occasions, New Orleans was able to tie the game in the fourth quarter, as they were led by Zion Williamson, who scored 40 points. Unfortunately, Williamson ended the game in the locker room with an apparent injury. His status will be important going forward as the Pelicans will be hosting the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night to play for the eighth seed.
Down the stretch, it was the Lakers who had the ball bounce in their favor a few times to pick up the win and earn the No. 7 seed. Los Angeles will now have a rematch with the Denver Nuggets, who swept the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals of the 2023 NBA Playoffs.
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Leading the way for the Lakes was LeBron James, who scored 23 points with nine rebounds and nine assists. He had an uncharacteristic shooting night, going 6-of-20 from the field and 1-of-5 from 3-point range, but he did enough to help his team get the win.
In the process, he kept alive an impressive streak, which was shared by Nick Wright on X. Wright’s definition of a ‘do-or-die’ game is a little skewed, as any elimination game could be labeled as such.
But, he was using only Game 7’s of playoff series and NBA Play-In Tournament games for this example. In those games, James has now come away victorious in nine straight such games, and 12 if you include the NBA In-Season Tournament.
While what counts as a do-or-die game can be argued, the results that James has in those types of games are very impressive. Winning that often in the biggest games is something not everyone is capable of, but James has been doing it throughout his career.
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