NEW ORLEANS — The Lakers weren’t hiding from the fact that up until Friday, their road trip had been “bad,” as Coach JJ Redick put it.
And similar to earlier in the week, when they had an opportunity to bounce back from a trip-opening blowout loss to the Atlanta Hawks with Monday’s victory over the Charlotte Hornets, the Lakers once again found themselves in a “get right” game on Friday night against the New Orleans Pelicans.
And the Lakers mostly accomplished what they wanted to, beating the Pelicans, 118-104, at the Smoothie King Center to improve to 9-4 overall and 2-2 on a trip that will end with Saturday’s matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Lakers’ victory moved them to 2-0 in NBA Cup Group Play.
Austin Reaves led the Lakers with 31 points, including 20 in the second half, to go with seven assists and four rebounds.
Luka Doncic (24 points, 12 assists, seven rebounds and two steals) and Deandre Ayton (20 points, 16 rebounds and two steals) were among the five Lakers starters who scored in double figures.
Rui Hachimura recorded 14 points and four rebounds, while Marcus Smart had 13 points, five rebounds and five assists on a night when the Lakers leaned on their starting unit.
The Lakers got off to their best start so far on the trip, jumping out to a 35-25 lead at the end of the first quarter.
They scored at least 30 points in each of the opening three quarters, helping them take a 95-77 lead into the fourth.
The Pelicans cut their deficit to eight multiple times, but the Lakers staved off the comeback attempt.
And with point differential being a tiebreaker for NBA Cup games, they continued to pour on the points late despite the result already being decided before the Pelicans scored four points in the final 30 minutes.
The Pelicans, who were without Zion Williamson and Jordan Poole, were led by Trey Murphy III’s 35 points and five rebounds.
Rookie guard Jeremiah Fears added 19 points, eight steals and four rebounds for New Orleans.
More to come on this story.