Lakers vs. Pelicans Game Day 2026-03-03

What are your predictions? Which Laker need step up this game?

A bit more regarding my top heavy analysis of the Lakers, another team with the same problem is the Bucks. Giannis came back tonight from an extended absence and the entire balance of the team is inevitably thrown off in favor of his own statistics. This led of course to getting crushed by the shorthanded Celtics. Kevin Porter, who has been averaging about 45 points in Fantasy leagues while Giannis was out, has scored less than 10 tonight and has been next to completely ineffective. The same happens to Austin, but he's simply too smart to get shut down, so he minimizes his marginalization with his BBall IQ. Austin was an All Star this year if not for his injury but now, he's a passing blip on the radar as the end of the season approaches, losses mount and desperation rises. What happens to teams with short sighted management who only see stats but fail to see source causes, is they use these stats and justify trading the second and third tier players which leads to the team never achieving chemistry and continuity, and players whom have been effective on other teams and situations generally become bench players for the Lakers losing their ability to to bring their particular skills including shooting threes because of too much focus upon the stars. Kennard seems to be a rare exception. The opposite is true as well. I'm thinking of Andrew Bynum who battled his way to an elite status for the Lakers only to be traded for Dwight Howard and never finding his mojo again until injuries ended his career shortly thereafter. A former member here, Sheppard, understood the 'LA Effect' and often mentioned it. You are either a star in LA or you are....

Lakers should win this game, but it only depends on which Laker team will show up. I hope Reaves is well rested for tonight's game. Just read today that he collapsed after the Kings game of exhaustion. There has to be a problem with his health to pass out like that. I saw the game and I did not think he had done anything out of the ordinary to collapse like that.

What a pass by Smart to LeBron for the alley oop jam!

I think it's worth a try for sure, though not sure how Luka would feel about it. Good thing is that both have similar skillset, so at times why not switch it up more to make the offense more unpredictable. You do see it in flashes but yeah not that often.

In the end though it's about the quality of shots- if you eat up clock but get a good look, it can be a winning strategy. But def don't want to be chucking up prayers at the end of clocks too often, despite the glamor that comes when those shots go in.

Luka drills the triple, and the Lakers now lead by 10 after trailing, spurred by the superb energy shown by LeBron.

Luka to Ayton, now Ayton returns the favor!

Wow they don't call the blatant lane violation by DeAndre Jordan, then gives Luka a tech for complaining.

Austin Reaves scored a whapping two points the first half against the Pelicans. What is the problem with him? Lakers up by three at the half. Lakers are still turning the ball over too many times. I think Ayton had three turn overs, LeBron another three. So they need to clean that up the second half. This is a young energetic team that they have now. I noticed they traded a few players, but they got some good young players.

Reaves wide open- gotta shoot that.

What an underhand scoop pass by Luka to Ayton for the monster slam!

Floor very slippery or something- players from both teams keep tripping

Yet ANOTHER turnover and now Pelicans retake the lead 65-64. This game has been sloppy for both sids.

Reaves finally gets his first bucket with that driving layup on the break

Luka another turnover- this time he throws it away after Pelicans trap him

Big rebound by LaRavia who kicks it to Kennard for the triple to notch the game at 75

Refs are in a bad mood after all the complaining by both teams- even the even-tempered Kennard gets a T there

Ayton gotta be careful- air punch got the T, but he's still steaming.

Zion with all that momentum- you have to either concede that drive and not give him the and 1 or foul him harder

Huge triple by AR from the corner, cuts it to 3!

Reaves another clutch 3, and now Luka the turnaround inside- Lakers by 4!

Smart with a giant steal, and that's like that 3rd time tonight he's connected with LBJ on the break

Lol Zion pouting like a little kid, and Smart drills the dagger triple! Lakers up 105-98 with 1:34 to go.

Lakers outscore Pels 24-7 down the stretch for a hard fought W. Things definitely turned around after Hayes came in.

Wow, what a great finish for the Lakers. Lakers won because Reaves finally woke up and started hitting some critical shots. Also Ayton made some good shots, and I got to give Smart most of the credit for the win. He plays with a lot of heart. But the Lakers were lucky to have won this game because they had a lot of turn overs. Luka got hit with another tech and he better stop losing his cool and stop the complaining to the ref's so much. I believe he has like eleven tech's this season.

Highlights from the game: