The Los Angeles Lakers are officially in the playoffs after defeating the New Orleans Pelicans 110-106 in their 7-8 play-in tournament matchup on Tuesday. It was a very close game, with the Lakers trailing 34-26 after the first quarter. They quickly fought back in the second quarter, outscoring the Pelicans 34-16, which would allow the Lakers to maintain the lead the rest of the game.

The Lakers also had to survive the Pelicans even though star power forward Zion Williamson had a phenomenal game, scoring 40 points and pulling down 11 rebounds and five assists. Williamson had to leave the game early due to a left hamstring injury, but he still gave the Lakers a great challenge to come away with the victory.

Lakers head coach Darvin Ham attributed the team’s grit to its ability to pull out the win, despite the Pelicans’ late-game fight.

“Just the courage, the courage of our group,” Ham said, via Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. “(We) had a little bit of leeway and they started doing…what we thought they were going to do, they did. They made their career. They threw some heavy blows at us. They continued to sway. We keep going back. Meet strength with strength.”

The Lakers saw three players score at least 20 points while outscoring the Pelicans. Anthony Davis was a key example of this value, playing through injury and scoring 20 points and 15 rebounds. LeBron James added 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists and D’Angelo Russell scored 21 points and six assists.

This group will need to continue their gritty form into Saturday when they begin the first round of the playoffs against the defending champion Denver Nuggets.