German_Force » I want to be where I’m

The chemistry between Anthony Davis and Rajon Rondo keeps blossoming to spectacular effect John Jerry Jersey , infusing the New Orleans Pelicans with confidence as they head into the playoffs on a five-game winning streak.

”When he’s going, he’s got a high motor, pushing the basketball,” Davis said of Rondo. ”If we want shots, we have to run with him. He’s making sure we’re making the effort to get back into the offense and get some assists for him.”

Davis had 22 points, 15 rebounds, four blocks and three steals, Rondo had 19 points and 14 assists and the Pelicans captured the sixth seed in the Western Conference playoffs with a 122-98 victory over San Antonio on Wednesday night.

Rondo set up all three of Davis’ dunks – including a soaring roundhouse jam on a cut to the basket in the first half and a reverse alley-oop in the fourth quarter that drove the crowd wild.

LaMarcus Aldridge, Tony Parker and Dejounte Murray each scored 11 points for the Spurs, who were already playoff bound but went to the locker room after their loss in New Orleans knowing they’d be at best a seventh seed, and that’s where they ended up. With his team struggling to keep pace with the Pelicans, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich pulled his regulars early in the fourth quarter, limiting all of his key players to fewer than 30 minutes on the court.

Popovich didn’t sound at all concerned about whether his club entered the playoffs with momentum.

”I think that is all psycho-babble,” he said. ”We have been on both ends of everything for all of these years, so Mike Alstott Jersey , you just go play.”

Spurs veterans also downplayed their late-season stumbles, which included an eight-game road losing streak.

”We got in and now it is time to fine-tune things and try to get better,” Aldridge said. ”There is no pressure on us, so we’ve just got go play and be better and just be locked in.”

Nikola Mirotic had 21 points and 15 rebounds, Jrue Holiday added 19 points and E’Twaun Moore added 13 points for the Pelicans, who led by double-digits throughout the second half, with their largest lead topping out at 25.

The Pelicans finished with 78 points in the paint and shot 59.1 percent (52 of 88). New Orleans also had 32 points on fast breaks, compared to 17 for the Spurs.

”In transition, with Rondo leading us, and A.D. running the floor, and we got E’Twaun on the wing and Niko shooting 3s – I feel like we’ve got a pretty good chance,” Holiday said.

TIP-INS

Spurs: Kyle Anderson and Bryn Forbes each scored 10 points. … Remained without Kawhi Leonard, who wound up playing in only nine games during the regular season because of a lingering right quadriceps injury. His availability for the playoffs remains unclear. … Finished 14-27 on the road, where they’ll start the playoffs.

Pelicans: Won the season series against San Antonio, 3-1. … Mirotic hasn’t scored fewer than 21 in any of New Orleans’ past five games. …. New Orleans’ 48 victories is the third most in franchise history Jim Otto Jersey , which officially dates back to the NBA’s return to the city in 2002-03. When Chris Paul played in New Orleans, the club won 56 games in 2007-08 and 49 in 2008-09.

GETTING SEPARATION

The game was competitive until 4:32 remained in the second quarter, when Pau Gasol sank a short turnaround to cut New Orleans’ lead to 42-39.

Soon after, New Orleans began clamping down on defense and ramping up its tempo in transition, closing the second quarter on a 19-4 run that earned the Pelicans a standing ovation as they walked off the floor at halftime with a 61-43 lead.

Mirotic scored seven points during the spurt, all on layups set up by Rondo, including one as he was fouled by Gasol.

”We want to play fast. They want to play slow. We wanted to try to dictate the tempo of game and I thought we did that, especially in the second quarter,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said ”We got out and ran and had good ball movement.”

UP NEXT:

Spurs: Open the playoffs against defending champion and second seed Golden State.

Pelicans: Start their postseason in Portland.

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The Lakers finished with 35 wins, their most since 2012-13. And coach Luke Walton can live with that.

Jason Hart set career highs with 30 points and seven 3-pointers, and the Lakers defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 115-100 on Wednesday night, closing out a fifth consecutive season without a playoff berth.

”We’re on the right path for where we want to get to,” Walton said. ”Really happy with the progress we made. It was a special, fun year.”

Two-way player Gary Payton II added a career-best 25 points off the bench as the Lakers beat their Staples Center co-tenant for the first time since April 4, 2012 Aldrick Rosas Jersey , as the visiting team. They went 35-47 under Walton in his second year.

”We’re very confident in what we have to build off of,” Hart said. ”The biggest thing for us is getting the experience and we did that. We all want each other to succeed. We were eliminated from playoff contention and no one went out on their own. Every game until the end of the season, we played hard, competed and played for each other.”

Tobias Harris led the Clippers with 23 points. They ended the season with four straight losses, and finished with a 42-40 record although their streak of consecutive playoff appearances ended at six.

”I don’t like going home, I just don’t,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. ”If we were healthy, we’d be in the playoffs.”

The Lakers led by nine at halftime and stretched it to 22 points in the third, when Hart scored 14 points, hitting three straight 3-pointers.

As a team, the Lakers tied their season high with 17 3-pointers, including three each by Payton, Alex Caruso and Brook Lopez.

TIP-INS

Lakers: G Lonzo Ball ended his rookie season on the bench, having missed the final eight games with a left knee contusion. In all, he missed 30 games due to injury. Ball averaged 10.2 points Eric Berry Jersey , 6.9 rebounds and 7.2 assists in 34.2 minutes. … The Lakers were 11-19 without Ball in the lineup. … Fellow rookie F Kyle Kuzma missed the last three games with a sprained left ankle. He averaged 16.1 points and shot 70 percent from the free-throw line.

Clippers: G Lou Williams sat out his second straight game with a sprained right ankle. He averaged career highs in points (22.6), assists (5.3) and minutes (32.8). His bench scoring led the NBA in his 13th season. … They won the season series 3-1. … They had won 21 of 23 against the Lakers since 2012-13 by an average of 15 points. … DeAndre Jordan joined the crowd singalong of ”Sweet Caroline” during a timeout late in the game.

BACK TO EARTH

Andre Ingram came down to earth a night after a 19-point performance in his NBA debut for the Lakers against Houston. The 32-year-old guard scored five points on 2-of-9 shooting and had six assists in 33 minutes. The 10-year veteran of the G League said he had hundreds of messages on his phone on Tuesday. Ingram graduated from American University with a physics degree and he calls math ”a true love of mine.” He tutors high school students when he has time during the G League season and in the offseason to ”keep that part of the brain functioning.”

HE SAID IT

”I don’t even know what to do tomorrow.” – Rivers, who will miss the playoffs for just the fourth time in 19 years of coaching.

LEBRON TO LAKERS?

Channing Frye thinks it’s possible the Lakers could land LeBron James in free agency this summer. ”Any superstar would like to play for Luke (Walton). He’s a players’ coach,” Frye said. ”If that’s not enough, this is also the Lakers and you’d get to play in LA at Staples Center.” Frye will be a free agent, too, and the veteran forward would like to stay in LA. ”(Expletive), it’s the Lakers,” he said. ”I want to allow them to make the right decisions with bigger-name guys. I’m a pretty good backup, emergency break-the-glass-type guy.”

FAREWELL EMBRACE?

Jordan and Rivers embraced after the game ended, with neither quite sure of their futures in Los Angeles. Jordan has a player option worth $24.1 million for next season, which he could decline and pursue free agency after spending his first 10 years with the Clippers. Rivers will be heading into the final year of his contract. ”I want to be where I’m wanted,” Jordan said. ”I want to have a chance to contend. That’s really what I’m looking at.”

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