In its bid for a third straight victory this week, New Orleans came up just shy Saturday of forcing another overtime game, nearly rallying from a late eight-point deficit but falling to the Clippers. After beating Detroit and Utah over the previous five days in matchups that went to OT, the Pelicans worked their way back into having a shot at the buzzer Saturday to create more free basketball, but couldn’t convert a difficult three-point try.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
JJ Redick’s off-balance three-pointer from the right wing was just off the mark, allowing the Clippers to walk off the Smoothie King Center floor with a hard-fought victory. Earlier, Clippers sixth-man extraordinaire Lou Williams swished a left-wing three-pointer with 31 seconds left, giving LA a 133-127 lead. Patrick Beverley came up with a monstrous offensive rebound just prior to Williams’ trey, keeping possession alive for the visitors. Redick sank a three with 28 seconds to go, keeping the Pelicans’ hopes alive.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Derrick Favors tallied 20-plus points against the Clippers at home for the second time this season, following up his earlier 20-20 game with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Just as impressively, the starting center was a perfect 10/10 from the floor, for the second game in a row finding the gaps in the opposing defense to get point-blank shots at the rim.
Although he had an excellent game individually, the Favors gave the Clippers credit for their offensive prowess (50 percent shooting) and ability to come up with key defensive plays (12 steals).
“They’ve got some good players,” Favors said. “They know how to create contact and make plays offensively. We did a the best we could do (effort-wise on defense) and contested a lot of shots. They made a lot of tough shots. You’ve got to tip your hat to that.”
BY THE NUMBERS
11/21: New Orleans three-point shooting in the first half.
4/20: New Orleans three-point shooting in the second half.
23/36: Pelicans foul shooting. The Clippers made eight more than that even though they only attempted three more free throws than their hosts.
21: New Orleans turnovers, which led to 24 LA points. The Clippers only committed 12 turnovers. Kawhi Leonard led the visitors with five steals.
#SATURDAYSCORER
For all 14 Saturday games throughout New Orleans’ regular season, we’ll be selecting a Pelicans player we think will most exceed his season scoring average for that day’s game. Daniel Sallerson picked Derrick Favors, while Jim Eichenhofer took Brandon Ingram. In a fan poll among four other candidates, Lonzo Ball was chosen. The 10th Saturday contest was won by Sallerson, after Favors more than doubled his points average, making the season standings: Daniel 4, Jim 4, Fans 2. Sallerson and Eichenhofer could not repeat a player among any of the first seven Saturday games, which is also the case for Saturday games 8-14.
Recent winners:
Dec. 7 at Dallas, Jim – Jaxson Hayes (Daniel: Lonzo Ball; Fans: Brandon Ingram)
Dec. 28 vs. Indiana, Fans – Lonzo Ball (Daniel: E’Twaun Moore; Jim: Derrick Favors)
Jan. 4 at Sacramento, Jim – Lonzo Ball (Daniel: E’Twaun Moore; Fans: Brandon Ingram)
Jan. 11 at Boston, Jim – Jaxson Hayes (Daniel: Nickeil Alexander-Walker; Fans: Lonzo Ball)
