LOS ANGELES – During a recent three-game stretch, New Orleans showed tangible defensive improvement, holding every opponent under 110 points. Unfortunately for the Pelicans, that wasn’t the case on this week’s road trip to the Mountain and Pacific time zones. The Clippers made it three straight New Orleans opponents to top the 120-point mark Sunday, racking up exactly 100 points through three quarters and rolling to a win at Staples Center.
New Orleans will return home for Wednesday’s game on national TV against the Lakers, followed by consecutive weekend games vs. Oklahoma City.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Montrezl Harrell (career high-tying 34 points) followed up his own missed shot by dropping in an and-one layup, giving LA a 23-point lead with 7:17 remaining. New Orleans made a few second-half runs, but never got closer than within six points of the Clippers. LA completed a 5-0 homestand, winning three straight tight games before posting a convincing victory over NOLA.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
E’Twaun Moore breathed some life into the Pelicans in the second quarter after they had shot poorly, canning three three-pointers. Moore wasn’t New Orleans’ leading scorer Sunday, but he provided some much-needed efficiency, finishing 7/12 from the field and scoring 17 points. He was 3/6 from three-point range in 21 minutes of action.
BY THE NUMBERS
19/45: New Orleans bench shooting from the field, a number skewed negatively late during mop-up time. Pelicans reserves were more efficient than the starters, particularly in the first half.
24/53: New Orleans starters shooting from the field. Only Jaxson Hayes (3 of 5) made more than half of his attempts.
56-45: Clippers rebounding advantage. New Orleans has improved in this category recently, but the Pelicans were outboarded by a double-digit margin in both weekend losses (49-38 at Utah).
#WEEKLYREVIEW
On Sunday and Monday gamedays throughout the season, we’ll be asking fans to vote for their Pelicans Player of the Week from the previous seven-day period. For the fourth time in 2019-20, Brandon Ingram was the winner, based on his performance in the team’s four Week 5 games, averaging a team-best 26.5 points per game (vs. Portland, at Phoenix, at Utah, at LA Clippers). Ingram received over 40 percent of votes, surpassing nominees Jaxson Hayes, Jrue Holiday and JJ Redick. The Pelicans split the four games, beating the Trail Blazers and Suns.
Previous winners, Week 1-3 – Brandon Ingram; Week 4 – Jrue Holiday