Should the Los Angeles Lakers emerge victorious in their final game of the regular season, they were well aware that they would require one more victory in order to qualify for the first round of the NBA playoffs.

LeBron James was the driving force behind Los Angeles finishing as the eighth seed. The King concluded with a triple-double, scoring 28 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and dishing out 17 assists. Anthony Davis, on the other hand, scored 30 points and 11 rebounds, which helped the Los Angeles Lakers defeat the New Orleans Pelicans by a score of 124-108 on the road.

As a result of the victory, Los Angeles ends as the eighth seed in the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a consequence of this, the same two teams will go up once more in New Orleans on Tuesday for the NBA Play-In Tournament. The Denver Nuggets, who are the reigning champions of the NBA, will be the opponent for the winner of that game in the first round of the playoffs.

As soon as the game began, the Lakers rushed out of the gate and took control of the game. By the time halftime rolled around, they had built up a 70-53 lead. Los Angeles was able to get some much-needed secondary scoring, despite the fact that James and Davis led the charge. Additionally, guard D’Angelo Russell contributed 19 points to the final tally, while Austin Reaves ended with 20 points.

On the interior, the Lakers were able to outscore the Pelicans by a score of 68-42, making it a mismatch between the two teams.

Davis appeared to hurt his back during the fourth quarter, which gave Los Angeles a concern about the possibility of an injury.

A few moments before the championship game, he cautiously exited the floor and made his way to the locker room. The Lakers have stated that they anticipate Davis doing so on Tuesday.

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The postseason matchups are now set in the west. The Sacramento Kings will host the Golden State Warriors in the No. 9 vs. No. 10 matchup in the Play-In Tournament. The winner of that game will play the loser of the L.A. vs. New Orleans matchup to advance to the playoffs as the No. 8 seed and take on the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.

The L.A. Clippers finished fourth and will play Luka Doncic and the fifth-seeded Dallas Mavericks in Round 1. The Phoenix Suns will play the Minnesota Timberwolves in the other series.

The NBA Play-In Tournament concludes on Friday, with the playoffs scheduled to begin on Saturday.