Not With Taurean Prince, What the Starting Lineup Was Capable of Doing vs. NOP

The Los Angeles Lakers got a great performance to shake the bad taste left in the loss against the Nuggets, this time by defeating in the second leg of the back-to-back, this time against the New Orleans Pelicans, a West rival that is currently in the 7th seed while the purple and gold are standing in the 9th seed.

In recent games, coach Darvin Ham has finally got to his senses and sent Taurean Prince to have a coming-off-the-bench role, instead of the poorly role he was having as a starter, and the win over NOP showcased it as the five starters did something impressive.

All five Lakers starters score 20 or more points to beat the Pelicans 139-122 with a 17-point difference. Anthony Davis scored 20 points, and Rui Hachimura, who is Prince's replacement in the starting lineup, scored 21 points, the same number of points that LeBron James scored.

D'Angelo Russell returned to the court after missing the game vs. the Nuggets, showing that his absence affected the team and things could've gone different if the point guard had played against Jokic and Co. as D'Lo scored 30 points vs. NOP. Finally but not least, Austin Reaves scored 27 points.

The Lakers are shorthanded and hopeful that a fully healthy roster could have a championship run

Without four key players, the Lakers got the win over the Pelicans. Ham and his coaching staff believe that once Max Christie, Jarred Vanderbilt, Cam Reddish, and Gabe Vincent fully recover and are back can make the team the contending group they believe they are, plus the soon addition of Spencer Dinwiddie.