The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, 110-106, at Smoothie King Center on Tuesday night in a SoFi Play-In Tournament game.

The Pelicans (49-33 reg. season, 0-1 postseason) opened the contest seemingly intent on atoning for their Sunday afternoon defeat that had placed them in the Play-In level to begin with, as they owned a 34-26 lead after one. However, the Lakers (47-35 reg. season, 1-0 postseason) stormed back in the second, eliminating their deficit altogether and building a 10-point advantage going into halftime. New Orleans did chip three points from its deficit in the third, and the hosts clawed back to get as close as within two with 38.1 seconds remaining before Los Angeles was able to seal the victory with a pair of free throws apiece from Austin Reaves and Anthony Davis.

LeBron James led the Lakers with 23 points, adding nine rebounds, nine assists, three steals and two blocks. D'Angelo Russell furnished 21 points, six assists, one steal and one block. Davis generated a 20-point, 15-rebound double-double that included three blocks and one steal. Austin Reaves supplied 16 points, six assists and five rebounds. Rui Hachimura netted 13 points.

Zion Williamson paced the Pelicans with 40 points, complementing them with 11 rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block. Trey Murphy totaled 12 points, four rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. Brandon Ingram recorded 11 points, four rebounds and four assists. Larry Nance Jr. and Jose Alvarado generated matching 10-point efforts while tallying 12 rebounds and seven assists, respectively. Herbert Jones matched his teammates' scoring and added two steals.

The Lakers have clinched the No. 7 seed and will face off in a quarterfinal-round series against the Nuggets beginning Saturday at Ball Arena, while the Pelicans now await the winner of Tuesday night's Warriors-Kings battle and will play them for the No. 8 seed on Friday night.