The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 110-106 behind 23 points from LeBron James, securing a trip to the NBA playoffs.
James,39, contributed nine rebounds, nine assists, and three steals in addition to his other contributions to help the Lakers secure the seventh spot in the Western Conference.
In the opening round of the playoffs, the Lakers take on the Denver Nuggets, the reigning champs.
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James remarked, “We’ve got a good group going right now.”
“After the last game, we realized that they would give us everything they had, including the toolbox and the entire kitchen sink, and they did just that.
“So it was a gritty win for us and we punched our ticket to the post-season.”
In his 21-season career, James is expected to participate in the playoffs for the 17th time.
In the meantime, the Sacramento Kings’ 118-94 victory put an end to the Golden State Warriors’ dreams of making it to the postseason.
With 22 points, Stephen Curry led the Warriors in scoring, but Klay Thompson, who had scored 17.9 points per game on average this season, was scoreless for 32 minutes.
Now, in the last five seasons, the Warriors have missed the playoffs three times.
For the Kings, Keegan Murray finished with eight three-pointers, nine rebounds, and 32 points. De’Aaron Fox scored 24 points.
On Saturday, the Kings take on the Pelicans; the winner will earn the eighth seed and the final Western play-off position.
