The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, 124-108, at Smoothie King Center.

Both teams came in looking to secure playoff positioning, but the Lakers (47-35) looked like the more incentivized team right out of the gate. Los Angeles already owned a 30-24 lead after one, and it had expanded its advantage over the Pelicans (49-33) by another 11 points by intermission. When the visitors tacked on another five points to their edge in the third, the final period became a mere formality. With the victory, the Lakers clinched the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference, while the Pelicans fell to the No. 7 seed courtesy of the defeat and the Suns' win over the Timberwolves.

Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 30 points, complementing them with 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals. LeBron James generated a 28-point, 17-assist, 11-rebound triple-double that included five steals and one block. Austin Reaves supplied 20 points, two assists, one rebound, one steal and one block. D'Angelo Russell delivered 19 points, four assists, one rebound, one steal and one block. Rui Hachimura tallied 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.

CJ McCollum paced the Pelicans with 25 points, supplementing them with seven assists and four rebounds. Herbert Jones registered 18 points, five boards, one assist and two steals. Larry Nance Jr. and the returning Brandon Ingram produced matching 13-point efforts while also recording six and five rebounds, respectively. Nance added four assists. Zion Williamson finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Trey Murphy compiled 11 points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block.

The two teams will now meet again Tuesday night in a play-in game at Smoothie King Center.