At the NBA trade deadline in February, the New Orleans Pelicans and Los Angeles Lakers both targeted outside shooting.
The Pelicans canvassed the market to add another 3-point threat to their roster, but nothing materialized. The Lakers traded for Malik Beasley, an erratic but effective 3-point shooter. Beasley was part of a trio of players the Lakers got, along with guard D’Angelo Russell and forward Jarred Vanderbilt, to fortify their roster for a stretch run.
On Tuesday, those three players all played important roles in handing the Pelicans an embarrassing defeat. New Orleans fell behind by 36 points in the first half, part of a lifeless effort in a 123-108 loss to Los Angeles at Smoothie King Center.
The Pelicans and Lakers entered the game with identical records. The Lakers (34-35) moved one game ahead of the Pelicans (33-36) in the West standings with the win and clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The Pelicans and Lakers are headed in opposite directions. New Orleans is 3-7 since the All-Star break. Los Angeles is 7-3, even though it has played the majority of those games without injured star LeBron James.
Former Pelican Anthony Davis scored 35 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. Davis, whose Lakers got swept by the Pelicans in the teams’ regular-season series last year, came out with something to prove. He scored the Lakers’ first eight points.
In a game reserve center Larry Nance Jr. called a “must-win,” the Pelicans looked flatter than a soda that had been left to sit on the counter for weeks. They allowed the Lakers to drive into the paint at will and rain 3s.
The Pelicans fell behind by 15 points after the first quarter, and that deficit only ballooned.
Early in the second quarter, Beasley drained consecutive 3s from the right wing, shots that put the Lakers ahead by 20. Those were two of the seven 3-pointers Beasley sank in the first half.
The Pelicans trailed the Lakers by 35 points at halftime, the most a New Orleans team has ever been down after two quarters.
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