The 120-102 defeat was not a surprise.
The New Orleans Pelicans had to work awfully hard for every point tallied. The Los Angeles Lakers did not, pushing the pace at every opportunity and scoring an abundance of points early in the shot clock.
The Lakers started fast, racing out to a 12-2 lead. They went on to grab a 38-25 advantage at the end of the first quarter because, as assistant coach Casey Hill put it at halftime to Jen Hale, the Pelicans came out at 75% while the Lakers were humming.
The Pelicans fought back behind a wave of energy from their reserves in the second quarter to trim the deficit to only 55-51 at halftime.