LeBron James, Lakers shocked by pelicans without Anthony Davis | Bleacher's report

Jrue Holiday had 27 points, seven assists and three steals as New Orleans pelicans beat the Los Angeles Lakers 128-115 on Saturday at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.

LeBron James had 27 points, 12 assists, seven rebounds and four interceptions for the 29-30 Lakers, who lost three of their last four. Pelicans improved to 27-34.

The Pels were without Anthony Davis, the great star player, who was sitting what the team has designated as rest.

Lakers striker Brandon Ingram led all scorers with 29 points. Pelicans forward Cheick Diallo scored a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes on the bench.

The hopes of the playoffs of the Lakers in difficulty diminish quickly

Los Angeles has gone through a hectic season, with beginners suffering long-term injuries and rumors about Davis trading hovering over the team.

The 29-30 Lakers are 3.5 games behind the Western Conference finalists with 23 games to play. In layman's terms, they can not afford to lose against teams playing the 2018-19 season chain because there are not many opponents of this type left in their schedule.

It can be argued that the Lakers have more than six games to play against rebuilding teams: New Orleans (twice), Memphis Grizzlies, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks and Phoenix Suns.

But chances are Davis, who has an average of 27.8 points and 12.8 rebounds per game, will participate in at least one of these New Orleans clashes against Los Angeles even though his playing time has been limited recently. The clashes with the Pelicans will not be easy, especially since New Orleans had little trouble with Los Angeles without his superstar Saturday.

The rest of the slate is a glove: Tankathon ranked the Los Angeles program as the ninth most difficult of the NBA in the evening.

The Lakers still have to play twice against the Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors, both of whom hold their respective conferences. In total, 15 of their remaining matches are against teams in the top eight in the East or West. Los Angeles also has a five-game road swing from the Eastern Conference.

Get Lonzo Ball, who is the seventh among all the leading qualified in the real plus-minus defense by ESPN.com, the return will help.

But Tania Ganguli of Los Angeles Times reported that Ball had suffered a bruise to the bone in addition to his sprained grade 3 ankle which prevented him from entering the outside since January 19. We expect it to be in March. Mike Trudell, Lakers reporter also noted that Ball did not return to the training ground.

In summary, the alarm bells must ring in L.A., since the Lakers entered the night with 6.5 points Vegas Insider, and lost by 13.

fivethirtyeight gave the Lakers a 25% chance to play in the playoffs on Saturday, so they're not left out. But time is running out.

And after?

Both teams will play next Monday. The Pels will host the Philadelphia 76ers and the Lakers will stay on the road to face the Memphis Grizzlies.