LeBron James recorded 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists and the Los Angeles Lakers clinched a playoff berth with a 110-106 victory over the host New Orleans Pelicans yesterday (Philippine time).

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.

The Lakers will face second-seeded Denver in the first round of the playoffs, with Game 1 on Saturday, April 20 in Colorado.

The Nuggets are the defending NBA champions.

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 an undisclosed injury.

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

New Orleans receives a second chance to claim a playoff spot on Friday night, April 19.

The Pelicans will host the winner of the game between the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings.

Davis scored a tiebreaking basket to put the Lakers ahead by two with 1:23 left.

Larry Nance, Jr. split two free throws 15 seconds later to move the Pelicans within 101-100.

Russell then drilled a corner three-pointer to give Los Angeles a four-point edge with 50.3 seconds to play.

CJ McCollum made a short jumper in the lane to pull New Orleans within 104-102 with 38.2 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 three-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 three-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. (Field Level Media / Reuters)