New Orleans rallied all the way back from an 18-point deficit Monday to take a modest fourth-quarter lead, but Los Angeles answered in the final minutes, holding on for a narrow road victory in the Smoothie King Center. Despite two Pelicans surpassing the 30-point mark – Julius Randle notched 37, while Jrue Holiday posted 32 – the hosts lost for just the third time at home this season. The Clippers put five players in double-figure scoring, including three with 20-plus points, to outlast the Pelicans on a night filled with offensive fireworks.

IT WAS OVER WHEN…

E’Twaun Moore’s leaning three-point shot at the buzzer from the left wing came up just short, bounding off the rim to the Clippers just before time expired. A couple possessions earlier, Clippers guard Lou Williams connected on an immense deep two-point shot with 6.4 ticks left, making it a three-point margin.

PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME

Randle enjoyed the best offensive game of his NBA career, setting a new professional high by the end of the third quarter with 37 points (his previous top game was 36 points for the Lakers vs. Cleveland in March of last season). Unfortunately for Randle, foul trouble plagued him and he ended up being whistled for his sixth with four-plus minutes remaining in regulation, after he tried to grab a rebound away from the Clippers.

FOCUS ON: DEFENSE

The remedy to some of New Orleans’ inconsistency over the first month-plus of the regular season is quite straightforward: Improving when the Pelicans don’t have the ball. For a third time this season Monday, New Orleans lost a game despite scoring 120-plus points, including a Thanksgiving Eve defeat in Philadelphia. The Clippers shot a way-too-high 59 percent from the field, after hovering around 65 percent well into their road win in the Crescent City. Los Angeles deposited 77 points in the opening half, before New Orleans clamped down and allowed only 52 points in the final 24 minutes. “I thought the guys came out in the second half and competed like crazy,” Alvin Gentry said. “Whenever (the Clippers) tried to knock us out of the box, we hung in and came back.” New Orleans improved dramatically last season after the All-Star break at the defensive end, a big factor in a 20-8 close to the regular season and first-round sweep vs. Portland. The Pelicans need to get back to that level of stinginess defensively to start stringing together more wins and gaining momentum in a West which has 14 competitive teams that currently believe they can make the eight-team playoff field.

BY THE NUMBERS

41/63: Clippers shooting from two-point range. The visitors were 31/49 in the paint, while the Pelicans finished with virtually identical numbers, at 32/49.

32: New Orleans assists, led by 14 from Jrue Holiday. It was the first time this season that the Pelicans dished out 30-plus assists and lost the game.

7: Pelicans turnovers, the fewest for New Orleans in any game this season.