Lakers hold off Pelicans' 2nd-half surge to earn No. 7 seed in NBA Playoffs

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The Los Angeles Lakers are heading to the first round of the NBA Playoffs as they defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, 110-106, on Tuesday night.

The Lakers are now the No. 7 seed in the West, and they will be pitted against the Denver Nuggets, the reigning NBA champions, in the first round. 

At one point, the Lakers had an 18-point lead, but Zion Williamson, who finished the game with a season-high 40 points, took a perfect alley-oop feed from Jose Alvarado to tie it at 93 apiece with less than four minutes to play. 

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LeBron James, #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers, looks on during the game against the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2024 Play-In Tournament on April 16, 2024 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. (Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)

Williamson would tie it again with 3:13 to play with a floater in the lane, but he was hurt during the score – something the home team did not want to see. He went back to the locker room, slamming his towel into the floor as his injury was clearly enough to need further testing. 

There was no word throughout the rest of the game on what exactly Williamson was dealing with. 

With Williamson out now, the Lakers and Pelicans went back and forth on the scoreboard, as LeBron James knocked down two free throws, followed by the Pelicans’ answer with a Larry Nance Jr. dunk. James came right back with a fadeaway two-pointer to regain a four-point lead for the Lakers. 

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The score was 101-100 with less than a minute to play following Nance