The New Orleans Pelicans wound up being more trouble than expected, but it was a good night for the Los Angeles Lakers in the standings.
With a 124-108 win over a New Orleans team still missing every major contributor, the Lakers moved back into third place in the Western Conference with a 47-30 record. They leapfrogged the 47-31 Denver Nuggets, who were blown out by the Golden State Warriors.
The Lakers shouldn't have had much trouble with the 21-55 Pelicans with pretty much everyone but Rui Hachimura playing, but it took a while for them to pull away for good.