EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Three-point shooting has not been the Lakers’ forte this season, but it won them a game Tuesday.

A big one.

The Lakers made a team-record 15 3-pointers in the first half on the way to a 123-108 victory Tuesday over the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Lakers have been a bottom-dwelling team in many 3-point categories this season but it didn’t look like it Tuesday as they moved into an eighth-place tie with Dallas and Oklahoma City in the Western Conference.

Malik Beasley broke out of a shooting slump by drilling seven threes to help stake the Lakers a 75-40 halftime lead, their largest on the road at the half since the 1951-52 season.

Yes, the 1950s.

“He came out on fire,” Lakers center Anthony Davis said. “When he’s making [shots], he gets very hot, and the rim gets very big for him.”

Davis was also torrid Tuesday, bouncing back from two quiet games, including a 17-point effort in Sunday’s loss to New York. After that game, Davis took the blame and said he “played terrible… The guys did their job. I didn’t do my job.”

That was not the case Tuesday.

Davis scored 20 points in the first half and ensured the Lakers would be productive in the paint, not just behind the arc. He finished with 35 points and 17 rebounds in 33 minutes.

“I took a lot of ownership for that game against New York, the way I played. I just wanted to come out ultra-aggressive tonight, knowing how important this game was,” Davis said.

The Lakers (34-35) did not only win a game Tuesday, they took the season series against New Orleans, 3-1, clinching the first post-season tiebreaker should the teams tie in the standings.

The Lakers outscored New Orleans by 21 points from the 3-point line, a surprising stat for a team that has not prospered from deep this season. They came into the game tied for 28th in 3-pointers made (10.6 per game) and tied for 25th in 3-point accuracy (34%).

Beasley was shooting only 26.8% from 3-point range this month. That changed quickly against the Pelicans.

He made seven of 10 3-point shots in the first half, scoring 21 points on his own as the Lakers ran out to their massive lead. Beasley finished with 24 points.

“I just told myself to keep doing what I’m doing, don’t change anything up,” Beasley said. “It felt good to get back in rhythm but especially to get the win.”

“Everyone’s not going to smell like roses all the time,” Said Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “You just have to take the good with the bad… just have to keep taking the same shots, not get too gun-shy [and] beat yourself up too much.”

In addition to Beasley, D’Angelo Russell (17 points) and Austin Reaves (14 points) each made three 3-pointers for the Lakers.

The Lakers led by 40 a few minutes into the third quarter, but New Orleans gradually cut the lead to 13 past the midpoint of the fourth. There was never a direct threat to the Lakers’ winning chances, just more of an uneasy feeling that was quickly swept away.

“No lead is safe in this modern-day NBA,” Davis said.

The Lakers play again Wednesday in Houston, home of the West’s worst team record-wise, although the Rockets just beat Boston on Monday, 111-109.

Davis will not play because it’s a back-to-back situation. He returned in late January from a six-week absence because of a stress fracture in his foot.

“Even though he’s playing pain free, we made an organizational decision, starting with our doctors, to hold him out of back-to-backs,” Ham said.

The Lakers have only one back-to-back after Wednesday, a quick two-game set against Utah and the Clippers in April.