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Five takeaways from the Lakers’ 108-96 win over the New Orleans Pelicans

Lakers guard David Nwaba shoots as New Orleans forward Cheick Diallo defends on April 11.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
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With a win on Tuesday, the Lakers now have their longest winning streak in years. Four years to be exact. And they’ll have to go back another year to find a longer winning streak than five games.

There are a few asterisks that come with these five wins the Lakers have had. They are facing a lot of teams that aren’t motivated to win. But they are playing better and building momentum for themselves.

Here are five takeaways from the Lakers’ 108-96 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

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1. This winning streak started against the Memphis Grizzlies, and the Lakers seemed to try and stop it in the next game against the Spurs. D’Angelo Russell missed the game with a knee soreness that mysteriously appeared and Jordan Clarkson left early with a knee contusion. Brandon Ingram was on a minutes restriction with knee tendinitis and only played 10 minutes. The Lakers won anyway, in part because San Antonio was resting players. Ever since that game, though, Lakers Coach Luke Walton has shifted back to the way he normally handles minutes: a heavy focus on the young players and their development, without regard for the fact that the Phoenix Suns kept winning games and kept the Lakers in play for the second slot in the lottery.

2. Walton has mentioned the basketball gods in the past, and their distaste of tanking. If you believe in that kind of thing, the past two games offer some food for thought. Two games ago D’Angelo Russell hit a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer on a day he almost didn’t play because his grandmother had died. Then last night, in what could be his final game at Staples Center, Metta World Peace scored 18 points — the most he’s scored since November 2013. Of course, in heavy coach mode, Walton had a gripe with some of the ways in which the Lakers got the ball to World Peace. He wanted normal ball movement, rather than the isolation situations they often put him in.

3. The Lakers won and the Suns lost on Tuesday, which means no matter what happens tomorrow in Oakland, the Lakers will finish with the third slot in the lottery. That means they will have 156 of the 1,000 combinations assigned to them in the draft lottery, giving them a 15.6% chance at the first overall pick, a 15.74% chance at the second overall pick and a 15.59% chance of the third overall pick. It also gives them a 22.57% chance of the fourth pick in the draft, which would then go to the Philadelphia 76ers.

4. David Nwaba scored 12 points in his first 16 minutes. He played 28 minutes overall, but that fourth quarter was mostly dedicated to World Peace. Nwaba’s plus/minus rating was the best on the team at 13.

5. It’s likely an encouraging sign for the Lakers’ future that they are playing better defensively at this point in the season. The Pelicans shot 42.1% in the second half, which helped the Lakers overcome the fact that their shooting wasn’t great. Of course, New Orleans rested Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, but even in situations like that the Lakers have struggled to defend in the past.

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tania.ganguli@latimes.com

Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli

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