Pelicans aim to avenge tourney semifinal loss to Lakers

LeBron James turned 39 years old on Saturday.

However, the last time he played against the New Orleans Pelicans, he looked much younger.

James and the Los Angeles Lakers will visit the Pelicans on Sunday night, the rematch of an NBA in-season tournament semifinal on Dec. 7. During that contest in Las Vegas, James scored 30 points and dished out eight assists in less than three quarters as Los Angeles routed New Orleans 133-89.

But the Lakers came up short on James' birthday, falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves 108-106 in Minneapolis. It was Los Angeles' seventh loss in 10 games since beating the Indiana Pacers in the final of the in-season tournament.

"We're 33 games in," James said, "and we're still trying to figure out lineups and rotations, who to have on the floor in certain moments."

The biggest moment Saturday night came when James made what appeared to be a tying 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left, but the shot was ruled a 2-pointer and the call was upheld on replay.

"It's obviously a 3," James said. "You can see the space between the front of my foot and the 3-point line."

After the replay, Minnesota's Anthony Edwards made one of two free throws and James couldn't get a shot off in the final 1.4 seconds.

James, who scored 26 points, said he didn't get out of bed until 4:30 p.m. Saturday because of a non-COVID illness that led to him being listed as questionable. He said he would wait to see how he feels Sunday before speculating on his availability.

Anthony Davis finished with 33 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists to lead Los Angeles.

New Orleans will try to build on a 112-105 victory over the visiting Utah Jazz on Thursday, which came after the Pelicans blew fourth-quarter leads in narrow losses to the Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies to start a five-game homestand.

"We'll definitely take it," Pelicans coach Willie Green said after his team held on even though Utah sliced a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to one. "Anytime that we can carve out wins, if it's a close game, we'll take it, but we know we still have work to do."

The Pelicans received a boost with the return of reserve center Larry Nance Jr. after a 13-game absence due to a broken rib. Nance finished with nine points, seven rebounds, five steals and a block in 25 minutes.

"Having Larry back was huge for us," Green said. "That's the Larry we're all accustomed to seeing, and credit to him, he worked his tail off to get himself ready to come in and play and be who he is to this team.

"Without Larry and his production, that game is a tougher game to win for us, so we're all grateful to have him back."

Nance gave credit to Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum, all of whom scored more than 20 points, as well as Trey Murphy III, who missed his first six shots but made two critical 3-pointers in the final two minutes to help hold off the Jazz.

"I love playing basketball, and anytime I'm on the court, I'm happy, just a little bit happier with a win," Nance said. "Everybody played their part."

—Field Level Media