LeBron leads Lakers into NBA playoffs

D’Angelo Russell added 21 points for the seventh-seeded Lakers, who led by as many as 18 points in the play-in game. Anthony Davis had 20 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots for Los Angeles.

“It was a good win for us,” James said. “We punched our ticket to the postseason, so it was a good win.”

The Lakers will face second-seeded Denver in the first round of the playoffs, with Game 1 on Saturday in Colorado. The Nuggets swept the Lakers in the Western Conference finals on the way to the NBA title last season, and Denver was 3-0 vs. L.A. this season.

“They’ve had a ton of success against our ballclub,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said of the Nuggets, “but there’s always a new day. We like where we are, we like where the spirit of our group is. … Everybody is excited about this challenge.”

New Orleans star Zion Williamson scored 40 points on 17-of-27 shooting and collected 11 rebounds before exiting with 3:13 left in the game due to left leg soreness. Williamson will have imaging done on Wednesday, and Pelicans coach Willie Green did not give any details on the extent of the injury.

Trey Murphy III added 12 points for the Pelicans and Brandon Ingram scored 11.

New Orleans will receive a second chance to claim a playoff spot on Friday night. The Pelicans will host the Sacramento Kings with the winner getting the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference and a date with the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. The Kings beat the Golden State Warriors 118-94 in Tuesday’s late play-in game.

“Whether it’s home or the road, we’re going to give it all we got,” Pelicans forward Larry Nance Jr. said after New Orleans lost its sixth straight home game. “It’s a shame we got the home record we do. But it’s not for lack of trying, lack of love for this place. It’s just sometimes the chips don’t fall where you want them to. Hopefully we can change that Friday.”

On Tuesday, Davis scored a tiebreaking basket to put the Lakers ahead by two with 1:23 left. Nance split two free throws 15 seconds later to move the Pelicans within 101-100. Russell then drilled a corner 3-pointer to give Los Angeles a four-point edge with 51.3 seconds to play.

CJ McCollum made a short jumper in the lane to pull New Orleans within 104-102 with 38.5 seconds left. Davis hit two free throws with 14.8 seconds remaining as the Lakers took a four-point lead and held off the charge.

Austin Reaves scored 16 points and Rui Hachimura added 13 for the Lakers, who shot 41.7 percent from the field and made 14 of 35 (40 percent) from 3-point range.

New Orleans hit 46.2 percent of its shots, including 9 of 30 (30 percent) from behind the arc. Jose Alvarado, Herbert Jones and Nance added 10 points apiece.

The Lakers led by 18 in the third quarter, but Murphy and Alvarado each buried a 3-pointer during a 9-0 surge as the Pelicans moved within 91-89 with 5:41 left in the game.

New Orleans caught the Lakers at 93 when Alvarado’s alley-oop pass was slammed through the net by Williamson with 3:53 left.

Williamson scored on a driving hoop 34 seconds later to knot the score at 95 but was injured on the play. He displayed his frustration before heading to the locker room.

Los Angeles held a 10-point halftime lead and soon used a 10-2 spurt to open up a 73-55 lead. Reaves capped it with a basket with 6:53 left in the third quarter.

Los Angeles led 83-76 entering the fourth quarter.

James and Russell scored 15 points apiece as the Lakers led 60-50 at halftime. Williamson had 20 points and eight rebounds in the half for New Orleans.