New Orleans Pelicans @ Los Angeles Lakers
Friday, April 4, 2025 at 10:30 PM ET
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA | Game ID: 22401126
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAL 25 37 31 31 124NOP 30 23 31 24 108
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Luka Doncic bounces back to lead the Lakers to a 124-108 victory over the Pelicans
LOS ANGELES -- — Luka Doncic had 35 points, Austin Reaves added 30 and LeBron James had 27 in the Los Angeles Lakers ' 124-108 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.
Doncic struggled in a 123-116 loss to Golden State a night earlier, finishing with 19 points on and being exploited several times on the defensive end, but he responded to help the Lakers maintain their grip on third place in the Western Conference ahead of Denver and the Warriors. The Lakers have won three of four.
Jose Alvarado led the Pelicans with 27 points, and Karlo Matkovic had 15. New Orleans dropped its fourth straight on the road.
Alvarado capitalized on a sluggish start by the Lakers, scoring 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the first quarter to help spot the Pelicans a five-point lead.
But Los Angeles got going in the second quarter to take a 62-53 advantage at the half. Doncic had 11 points in the period and James added 10 as the Lakers made all nine of their shots from inside the 3-point line.
Takeaways Pelicans: Alvarado tied his season high in scoring, matching his 27 against Cleveland on Nov. 6.
Lakers: Dalton Knecht had 12 points, finding some confidence after combining for 14 in his previous six appearances and not seeing the floor in the loss to Golden State.
Key moment Doncic missed his first seven shots before Jordan Goodwin found him running the baseline for a layup with 7:51 left in the second quarter to ignite both the Slovenian star and the Lakers’ offense.
Key stat Reaves is the first Laker to make 15 3-pointers in a two-game span. He made six shots from behind the arc after hitting nine against the Warriors.
Up next The Pelicans host Milwaukee on Sunday, and the Lakers visit Oklahoma City on Sunday for the first of two games against the Thunder.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
LALAR A. Reaves
DF D. Finney-Smith
DK D. Knecht
DO Doncic
GV G. Vincent
JG J. Goodwin
JH J. Hayes
JV J. Vanderbilt
LD L. Dončić
LJ L. James
TJ T. Jemison III
NOPAR A. Reeves
BB B. Brown
EP E. Payton
JA J. Alvarado
JC J. Cain
JR J. Robinson-Earl
KB K. Brooks Jr.
KM K. Matković
KO K. Olynyk
LQ L. Quinones
YM Y. Missi
LAL/NOP the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur