Los Angeles Lakers @ New Orleans Pelicans
Friday, November 14, 2025 at 8:00 PM ET
Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA | Game ID: 22500045
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
NOP 25 27 25 27 104LAL 35 30 30 23 118
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Doncic, Ayton and Reaves lead the Lakers past the Pelicans 118-104 to improve to 2-0 in NBA Cup play
NEW ORLEANS -- — Austin Reaves scored 31, Luka Doncic had 24 points and 12 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers cruised to a 118-104 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans in an NBA Cup game on Friday night.
Deandre Ayton made 10 of 11 shots and finished with 20 points, 16 rebounds, two steals and a block for the Lakers, who improved to 2-0 in cup play to remain atop West Group B.
Trey Murphy III scored 35 for the Pelicans, who lost their fourth straight game, fell to 0-2 in the in-season tournament, and to a Western Conference-worst 2-10 overall.
Rui Hachimura scored 14 and Marcus Smart 13 for the Lakers, who led 65-52 at halftime after Doncic fed Ayton for an alley-oop dunk.
Doncic, Ayton and Reaves all scored during an 11-0 third quarter run that pushed Los Angeles' lead to 88-66, a surged capped by Reaves' 16-foot driving floater as he was fouled by Jose Alvarado .
The Pelicans briefly trimmed the Lakers' lead to eight when Alvarado and Saddiq Bey hit back-to-back 3s to make it 96-88 with more than eight minutes left.
Doncic hit a 12-foot fade and Reaves, who was 11 of 13 on free throws, hit five late foul shots — along with a 13-foot pullup — to help Los Angeles keep New Orleans at bay.
Murphy surpassed 34 points for the second time in four games for New Orleans. Jeremiah Fears had 19 points and eight steals, and Herb Jones scored 13, Bey scored 11 and Derik Queen grabbed 10 rebounds.
Both teams played without their biggest stars. The Lakers' LeBron James is still working his way back from a preseason bout with sciatica and the Pelicans' Zion Williamson remained sidelined by a recent left hamstring strain.
Up next Lakers: Visit the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.
Pelicans: Host the Golden State Warriors on Sunday.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
LALAR A. Reaves
DA D. Ayton
DK D. Knecht
DO Doncic
JH J. Hayes
JL J. LaRavia
JV J. Vanderbilt
LD L. Dončić
MS M. Smart
RH R. Hachimura
NOPDQ D. Queen
HJ H. Jones
JA J. Alvarado
JF J. Fears
JH J. Hawkins
KL K. Looney
KM K. Matković
MP M. Peavy
SB S. Bey
TM T. Murphy III
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