Lakers slump continues as home fans boo LeBron and Co in Los Angeles

CJ McCollum scored 22 points, Jonas Valanciunas and Brandon Ingram added 19 apiece and the New Orleans Pelicans rolled to a 123-95 victory over the reeling Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night.

Fans at crypto.com Arena voiced their displeasure with boos for most of the second half. Russell Westbrook was asked after the game if he would take the sound of the boos home with him.

“Nah,” he said. “Take it home? For what? Shit. Take it home? I got three beautiful kids at my house. Why would I take it home? If they boo, they can take their ass home. I ain’t worried about that. It doesn’t bother me none.

“I can only answer if I take them home: No. But as for our team, I don’t think it’s something we got to deal with. And kind of move forward.”

The 28-point margin of victory was the largest in franchise history by the Pelicans over the Lakers, surpassing their 139-117 win in 2018.

McCollum has six straight 20-point games. He is averaging 28 points in his seven games with the Pelicans since being acquired from Portland on 8 February. He had nine points in the third quarter when New Orleans went on a 26-7 run over four-plus minutes to put the game away. Valanciunas also had 10 rebounds for his 37th double-double of the season, which is tied for third in the NBA.

Ingram, who played for the Lakers for three seasons, also had eight assists. He had six points during the last six minutes of the first half as the Pelicans went on a 17-4 run to grab a 51-37 lead with 35 seconds remaining. LeBron James banked in a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to pull the Lakers within 51-40 at halftime.

James led the Lakers with 32 points and Westbrook added 16. Los Angeles have dropped two straight and five of their last six to fall a season-worst six games under .500 at 27-33. The Lakers committed 23 turnovers, including 16 in the first half. Los Angeles’ night could be summed up during the third quarter when DeAndre Jordan threw a cross-court pass that hit a fan in the first row of the seats along the baseline.

Lakers coach Frank Vogel found few positives in his team’s performance.

“We’re not shooting the ball well from the perimeter, and the paint’s clogged, and we’re trying to force inside – with the pass, with the bounce – and it’s leading to a lot of turnovers,” Vogel said. “And we’re not moving that well defensively. So, we weren’t very good on either end tonight.”

The Lakers now sit ninth in the Western Conference, 3.5 games behind the Clippers in eighth. They have lost seven of their last 10 games.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Joel Embiid scored 37 points and made a career and NBA season-high 23 free throws, James Harden had 29 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers made it two straight wins with their new duo by beating the New York Knicks 125-109.

The 76ers made 39 free throws, most in the NBA this season, and almost all their work to break open a close game midway through the fourth quarter came from the line. Embiid finished 23 of 27 on free throws and the NBA’s leading scorer added nine rebounds.

Meanwhile, Luka Doncic made two free throws with 7.9 seconds left on the way to 34 points and Dallas came back from 21 down in the third quarter to stun Golden State.Spencer Dinwiddie scored 10 of his 24 points in the final period for Dallas.

Stephen Curry hit a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining and had 27 points and 10 assists in his first game at home since earning All-Star Game MVP honors, but the Warriors couldn’t do enough right on either end during crunch time as Dallas hit all the big shots.

Doncic went 10 for 21 from the floor in the first of two matchups in five days between a pair of top-five NBA defenses: No 1 Golden State and the fifth-ranked Mavericks.

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