NEW ORLEANS — Brandon Ingram scored a season-high 36 points, Zion Williamson had 27 points and nine rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 128-111 on Tuesday night.
The 20-year-old Williamson became the first NBA player younger than 21 to score at least 20 points in 21 straight games, and he did so with his usual crowd-pleasing array of alley-oop dunks and quick, powerful drives to the hoop.
Ingram helped keep the Pelicans comfortably in front with 17 points in the third quarter, showcasing his mid-range repertoire of pull-ups, fades and turnaround jumpers. Pelicans guard Josh Hart — like Ingram an ex-Laker who was part of the trade that sent Anthony Davis to Los Angeles — grabbed 15 rebounds to go with five steals.
Second-year guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 18 and rookie guard Kira Lewis Jr. set a new high with 16 points in a reserve role. New Orleans center Jaxson Hayes scored 15 points in 19 minutes, hitting four times inside and making all seven of his free throws.
The Lakers, struggling without stars LeBron James and Davis, lost their third straight. Montrezl Harrell had a team-high 18 points, while Kyle Kuzma and Markieff Morris each scored 16. Kuzma also grabbed 10 rebounds and had seven assists.
New Orleans opened its first double-digit lead in the second quarter and went up by 17 on Ingram’s 27-foot 3-pointer, one of four he hit from deep.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s 3 trimmed the Pelicans’ lead to 59-46 at halftime.
The Lakers never got within single digits in the second half and trailed by as many as 30.
TIP-INS
Lakers: Have lost four of their past five on the road. … Dennis Schroder scored 15 points and Wesley Matthews had 14. … The Lakers went 18 of 37 from 3-point range (48.6%).
Pelicans: Starting point guard Lonzo Ball missed his second straight game with a strained right hip flexor. Alexander-Walker started in his place. … Steven Adams had 12 points and seven rebounds. … Australian rookie Will Magnay saw his first NBA action in the final three minutes. He attempted one shot from 3-point range and missed. … New Orleans missed 19 of 29 from 3-point territory. … Outrebounded the Lakers 53-34 and outscored them 62-32 in the paint.
UP NEXT
Lakers: Host the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night in the first of four straight at home.
Pelicans: Host the Denver Nuggets on Friday night.
https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
