LOS ANGELES — Anyone looking for an example of what the Lakers’ offense can look like when it’s firing on all cylinders, the second quarter of their 139-122 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night had it all.
It also looked like a team playing with the freedom of knowing Thursday’s trade deadline was fully behind them.
D’Angelo Russell (team-high 30 points) was on a heater, scoring 14 straight points early in the second – including four 3-pointers – across two minutes to get the Lakers rolling.
The ball was flying around, with LeBron James (21 points, season-high 14 assists) and Anthony Davis (20 points, six assists) leading the charge as playmakers instead of scorers as they put on an offensive masterclass in their fourth victory in five games.
The result: an overwhelming 51-point second quarter that gave the Lakers an 87-74 halftime lead.
“It was just a testament to playing the game the right way,” said Austin Reaves, who finished with 27 points and four assists. “Making the extra pass. We were getting wide-open looks, to be honest. And when D-Lo sees a couple go in, I mean, I got about a 97% guess rate correct when he’s about to shoot it. I can tell you every time. And I love it. It’s a beautiful thing to see.”
The Lakers’ 51 points in the second were tied for the most points they’ve scored in a quarter in franchise history and their 87 points was the second-highest first-half total in franchise history.
“D-Lo had it going,” Davis said. “Rui (Hachimura) made plays. Any time we’re able to get stops in the paint, transition and play fast and share the basketball, offense starts to click and we can score 51 in a quarter.”
With Reaves and Hachimura (21 points) also surpassing the 20-point threshold, all five Laker starters scored at least 20 points.
“All of us are just sharing the basketball, no matter who scores, as long as the ball goes in the basket,” Davis said. “We’ve been having a lot of…
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