Lakers vs. Pelicans Final Score: Lakers win fifth game in a row

After a brutal first half, the Lakers came back in the second to beat the Pelicans 104-99 on Saturday night.

LeBron James had a quiet game, but came up late and scored back-to-back 3-pointers as part of a 21-point performance by the King. He also had seven rebounds and five assists, passing John Stockton for the fifth most games played in NBA history.

Anthony Davis scored 31 points, had 14 rebounds and two steals. LeBron James had 21 points to go with his seven rebounds and five assists.

Dalton Knecht had the first 20+ point game of his young career. He went 10 for 17 from the field for 27 points and grabbed seven rebounds, two steals and two assists.

Austin Reaves chipped in with 10 points, two rebounds and seven assists. Christian Koloko had six points and six rebounds.

AD got things going for the Lakers early, registering a steal, dunk and draining a 3-pointer.

The Lakers then began to play poorly, affecting their offense, and the Pelicans led by nine.

New Orleans had extended their lead to 11-0, but Reaves hit a three to stop the bleeding. As we’ve seen quite a few times this season, the Lakers put themselves in an early hole and had to battle through a slump.

At the end of the first, LA was down by nine.

LeBron started things off in the second half with an emphatic dunk. Although LA slowly crept back into the game and cut it down to single digits, New Orleans responded and extended their lead to 15 points.

Despite the Lakers’ offense finding some rhythm, LA still couldn’t figure out how to stop New Orleans. The Pelicans beat the Lakers in points in the paint and second chances, thanks to the rebounds they grabbed for the extra chances at the basket.

LA was down 10 at halftime.

The Lakers woke up to start the second half and cut the deficit to six. After a 3-pointer by Reaves, the lead was cut to four. After that, Dalton knocked down a three to make it a one-point game.

Los Angeles couldn’t grab enough rebounds and lost the game by a paltry 28 to the Pelicans’ 41. The Lakers clawed back with another three by Dalton and a putback dunk by AD.

Dalton then cut to the basket for a dunk, giving the Lakers a one-point lead. LA had seized much of the momentum and had gone up five. After the Pelicans pulled within two, a 3-pointer by D’Angelo Russell gave the Lakers a five-point lead late in the third.

It was the Lakers up by eight to start the last frame. Koloko had a nice impact on the game with his defense and converted on two layups to help extend the Lakers’ lead to double digits.

In true Lakers fashion, they give up their big lead, with the Pelicans going on a 9-0 run to make it a one-point game. Both teams played at a high level with their offense; New Orleans kept cutting it to within one every time LA went up by five or more.

At the 2:09 mark, Brandon Ingram put the Pelicans up by two, but LeBron answered with a 3-pointer to retake the lead, converted another from deep and did his infamous “muffler” celebration after the clutch basket.

The Pelicans had to play the foul game and kept it close, but they couldn’t get the ball in properly and when the Lakers converted from the charity stripe, they sealed the win.

Key takeaways:

The Lakers need to stop the terrible starts. They have been able to save themselves, but they need to find a way to play hard throughout the game.

AD’s MVP campaign continues to skyrocket with his dominance. The most incredible part of his stellar play this season is that his three-ball is finally back.

It took him a while, but Dalton is here and he’s gotten better every game.

The Lakers’ next game will be Tuesday against Utah Jazz at 7:30 p.m. PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.