NEW ORLEANS —The New Orleans Pelicans are moving closer to a Western Conference playoff berth.

They are 3-1 since the All-Star break and they moved from 13th place to ninth place. They moved from 5½ games back to two games back of Memphis for the eighth playoff spot going into Saturday’s games.

The Pelicans’ first loss since the break came against the Lakers in Los Angeles – 118-109 on Tuesday night. It was their third loss in as many games against the conference leaders, who feature LeBron James and former Pelican Anthony Davis.

New Orleans’ final chance to get a win against L.A. comes at 7 p.m. Sunday (ESPN) in the Smoothie King Center.

Davis dominated the first two games against the team from which he demanded a trade last January. He had more than 40 points in both games and averaged 11 rebounds.

But Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson missed the first two meetings while recovering from knee surgery. He faced L.A. for the first time in the most recent meeting and had 29 points and six rebounds, but it wasn’t enough.

Even though Davis was less productive – 23 points and six rebounds – James scored 40 points and made the difference.

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said the Pelicans “did a damn good job on Davis,” but added “that other guy (James) kind of gets in the way every now and then.”

James missed the Lakers victory at Golden State on Thursday because of groin soreness, but was back in the lineup Saturday night at Memphis.

The Pelicans beat Cleveland 116-104 on Friday in their first home game in 15 days, kicking off a three-game home-stand in five days. New Orleans hosts Minnesota on Tuesday.

“We knew we wanted to get a fast start,” guard Lonzo Ball said after the Pelicans raced to a 43-25 lead after one quarter and coasted against the Cavaliers. “The last couple of games we’ve come out pretty slow, so we wanted to change that and I felt like that carried us throughout the game.”

Ball had 12 assists as New Orleans finished with 36 assists on 48 field goals. 

The Pelicans have won six of their last eight games and in five of those games they have had at least 34 assists after reaching that total in just three games previously.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Williamson said. “Everyone gets touches and when we get ball movement, and when we get a lot of assists, we are a better team.”

Williamson has had at least 20 points in 10 consecutive games after getting 24 against the Cavaliers. Former Laker Brandon Ingram scored 29 points and he and Williamson have had their two most productive games as a tandem in the last two.

“I think we just figure out who’s hot and just continue to go to him,” said Ingram, who had 34 points against his former team on Tuesday. “Of course everybody has, pretty much, a mismatch on the basketball floor. They try to go to each spot or feel comfortable in each spot so whoever’s hot we just continue to go to him and continue to find our rhythm.”

The Lakers have been in rhythm almost the entire season and especially of late. They had won seven straight going into Saturday’s game, their fifth streak of at least that many wins this season.

They had won an NBA-record 18 consecutive road games against Western Conference opponents going into the game at Memphis.

L.A., which was looking for a 4-0 sweep of the season series against Memphis, entered Saturday’s game 8-0 when playing consecutive days on the road.