The New Orleans Pelicans are widely considered a one-man team, and the Los Angeles Lakers did little to dispel that idea on Saturday.
With the Pelicans trailing by one point in the third quarter, Anthony Davis went down on the hardwood holding his back. The 23-year-old hobbled to the locker room and thankfully returned to the game about five minutes later. During that stretch, though, LA put together a 14-0 run to blow the game open.
Davis would eventually finish with 34 points on 50 percent shooting to go along with eight rebounds, two blocks and two assists. LA won by a final score of 126-99.
LA also suffered an injury scare of its own when rookie forward Brandon Ingram landed on another player's foot and rolled his ankle. The 19-year-old initially attempted to limp through the play until he eventually stumbled onto the Lakers' bench. Ingram went back to the locker room, and initial reports stated that Ingram would have his ankle re-taped and could return.
Ouch. Brandon Ingram went back to the locker room after this ankle roll. pic.twitter.com/AI7Mqvh8a0 — Shahan Ahmed (@shahanLA) November 13, 2016
With the Lakers leading by 20 points in the fourth quarter, Ingram's return was not deemed necessary. The bigger challenge will be getting the rookie ready for Sunday's game in Minnesota, considering the quick turnaround and the likelihood that the ankle will swell up over night.
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Apart from the couple of injury scares, the Lakers continued playing team basketball with Lou Williams, Nick Young and Jordan Clarkson all finding their range from long distance.
As a team, the Lakers scorched the nets shooting 53.3 percent from three-point land. Young made five of his seven attempts, while Clarkson made four of his six long-range shots. D'Angelo Russell also knocked down four of his seven three-pointers.
Once again, the Lakers' bench came up big. Clarkson led the Lakers in scoring with 23 points off the bench and made eight of his 12 field goal attempts, but Williams was close behind with 21 of his own tallies by converting nine of his 15 shots as a substitute. Overall, the Lakers' substitutes combined for 73 points, which is a stunning total. Thus far, the Lakers' bench is the highest scoring bench in the NBA.
With the victory, the Lakers moved to 6-4 on the season, and the purple and gold have now won three games in a row on the road. Next, LA travels to Minneapolis to face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday in a back-to-back.
Notes: Julius Randle continued his strong play, nearly notching a triple-double. Randle finished with eight points, eight assists and 11 rebounds in 27 minutes on the court.
