Pelicans (37-26), Clippers (34-29)
LOS ANGELES – Anthony Davis put on a show, the New Orleans offense was at its high-octane best for much of Tuesday’s game and – for the first time during a monthlong Pelicans winning streak – a national TV audience got to witness the fun. New Orleans rolled to a 20-point advantage over Los Angeles in a TNT game, before the hosts came all the way back in the second half. Ultimately though, New Orleans picked up its ninth straight win, one shy of the franchise record.
Davis piled up 41 points and did everything in his power to spearhead New Orleans to a critical victory, against one of the teams chasing the Pelicans in the Western Conference standings. The five-time All-Star exited the game temporarily in the second quarter with a rib injury, but returned after intermission to score 31 points in the second half alone. After the Clippers took a four-point lead with 2:00 remaining, Davis converted three consecutive baskets, enabling the Pelicans to gain a 115-113 edge at 0:31. Ian Clark then tacked on four free throws to help seal the win.
“He is just playing on a really high level and nothing seems to affect him,” New Orleans third-year head coach Alvin Gentry said of Davis. “That is a really tough (rib) injury right there. It feels like somebody is sticking an icepick in your side when you are trying to breathe with those bruised ribs and stuff like that. But he played through it and did a great job.”
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Clippers guard Lou Williams improbably missed two straight free throws with six seconds remaining in regulation, in a situation where LA absolutely had to have them, trailing by three points. Davis went to the other end and sank two charity tosses to account for the final margin.
Williams (27 points, 11 assists) was a primary reason the Clippers even had a chance to win late, but he had the ball taken away from him by Jrue Holiday in a critical spot, with New Orleans leading 115-113 and only 20 seconds remaining. Holiday’s steal put the Pelicans in position to only need to make free throws to ice consecutive win No. 9.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Davis was a demon on both ends of the floor, leading the New Orleans offense and having one of the most prolific nights of his NBA career from three-point range. His 41-point game featured four made treys, equaling his career high in that category. He connected on all of them during a third-quarter barrage that was also highlighted by a tough stepback at the buzzer, giving New Orleans a 97-82 edge. His 31-point second half included 12/20 shooting from the floor. Overall, Davis’ official stats were 41 points, 13 rebounds, three steals and three blocks.
QUOTES TO NOTE
“People are starting to recognize. Jrue should be first-team all-defense. It was pretty much the play of the night.” – Rajon Rondo (13 points, nine assists) on Holiday as a defender and his monumental theft of Williams off the dribble
“Bring the energy. And get the ball to Anthony Davis.” – Holiday on postgame radio, half-jokingly describing his ingenious game plan to try to get a 10th straight win Wednesday at Sacramento
“That’s why we play, honestly. The crowd’s into it, and it’s like us against the world. To silence a (opposing home) crowd is one of the best feelings in the game.” – Holiday on New Orleans once again finding a way to pull off a tight victory in a hostile environment on the road. Six wins during the streak have come on the road
“I really thought that if we won the game, it would have been a robbery. We didn’t play with the right spirit, and it happens, but I don’t know why it happened.” – Clippers Coach Doc Rivers with a blunt assessment on why his team didn’t deserve to win
BY THE NUMBERS
8: New Orleans turnovers, an outstandingly low number and part of the Pelicans’ recent trend of limiting miscues, one of the reasons they’ve consistently scored 120-plus points in games. The eight turnovers tied a season-best for New Orleans.
11: Pelicans blocked shots, led by three apiece from Davis and Emeka Okafor. Holiday and Darius Miller swatted two shots each.
24: Positive plus-minus for E’Twaun Moore, a team-best for New Orleans. Every Pelicans starter was in the positives, while every Clippers starter finished in the negatives, including a minus-26 for point guard Milos Teodosic. Williams and Montrezl Harrell (26 points) were hands-down LA’s best and most energetic players, both in bench roles.