Rowan Kavner
New Orleans - One play.
Despite Chris Paul’s 24 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and a stretch where Paul scored 10 of the Clippers’ 12 straight fourth-quarter points to cut the deficit to two Friday night, it’s one play that Paul thought back on after the loss.
“One of the biggest plays was we were down 98-96 and I missed a 3 from the left wing that could’ve got us the lead,” Paul said. “That’s probably the play I’ll remember from this game.”
Never mind the fact that the only reason the game got to 98-96 was because of Paul’s prolific fourth quarter, during which he scored 14 of his 24 points, going 6-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-3 from 3-point range.
The Pelicans went ahead by 13 points with only seven and a half minutes remaining when Paul nearly single-handedly stole the win in New Orleans.
The stops that would elude the Clippers late in the fourth quarter didn’t during the Clippers’ 12-0 run, which took just two and a half minutes to get New Orleans’ lead down to one. Paul hit two straight buckets while the Pelicans missed three straight shots.
Then Paul drilled a 3-pointer to cut the Pelicans’ lead to six and stole the ball on the Pelicans’ next possession. DeAndre Jordan added a bucket and Paul hit another 3-pointer, at which point it appeared Paul would will the Clippers to their seventh straight win.
“We’re always going to have a chance,” said Matt Barnes. “We definitely had a chance.”
But it wasn’t meant to be.
Despite that blazing stretch for Paul, which brought the Pelicans’ lead down to 95-94, Paul could’ve given the Clippers’ their first lead of the fourth quarter on a 3-point attempt that didn’t go through. That missed attempt against his former team is the one he’ll remember most, even on a night where he made 10 field goals.
Tyreke Evans scored on New Orleans’ next possession, and the Clippers’ defensive stops ceased, as they would only get the deficit within two points one more time the rest of the night.
“We couldn’t get stops tonight,” Paul said. “We didn’t get stops when we needed to. They got in the lane, they were comfortable all night long. Bad loss for us, but we’ve got to get back on the horse tomorrow.”