The Los Angeles Lakers have made it out of the NBA Play-In Tournament and earned the seventh seed in the Western Conference Playoffs for the second consecutive year.

The Lakers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 110-106 thanks to 23 points from LeBron James. This victory moved them into the first round of the NBA Playoffs, where they will face the Denver Nuggets, the reigning champions, in a rematch of the Western Conference Finals from the previous season.

The Lakers trounced the Pelicans on their home court for the second straight game, led by Anthony Davis’ 20 points and 15 rebounds against his old team.

The Pelicans have dropped their last six road games while the Lakers have won their last six.

The Lakers went on an 11-0 run to take the lead in the second quarter after trailing by 10 points at the beginning of the game. Before New Orleans mounted a late comeback in the fourth quarter, they controlled the second and third quarters and led by as many as eighteen points.

With just over a minute left in the game, the Pelicans, led by Zion Williamson’s forty points, tied the Lakers. However, Williamson seemed to suffer a minor ιnjury in the closing moments of the game and left for the locker room soon after.

The Pelicans were forced to foul and play the free throw game in the final seconds of the game when D’Angelo Russell, the Lakers’ new single-season three-point record holder, scored a corner three to put the Lakers up by four.

But to secure the win and the rematch with the defending NBA champs, Davis and Anthony Reaves went to the line and made four straight free throws.