New Orleans Blows Out the LA Clippers in an Overall Team Effort
New Orleans Pelicans 113 - LA Clippers 89
The Pelicans entered tonight’s game after a Brandon Ingram, tweet him out as an All-Star, game-winning 3-pointer against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Incredible night for the Pelicans, but they could have started tonight’s game flat after the big win. However, going against the LA Clippers has been a welcomed matchup for New Orleans so far this season as the Pelicans looked to sweep the season series. The Clippers have dealt with a lot of injuries this season. Paul George has been out since around Christmas time with a torn ligament in his elbow, and Luke Kennard and Justice Winslow are currently in the league’s health and safety protocols. Isaiah Hartenstein was listed out with an ankle injury and no timetable has been given for his return. He has been a welcomed addition to the LA roster giving great backup center minutes behind Ivica Zubac. Kwahi Leonard is of course still out but some good news was announced recently as he is ahead of his rehab timetable and could return before the end of the regular season. Rookie from Ohio University Jason Preston is still out recovering from foot surgery as the last update I found on him was only from October 7th on ESPN. No minor injuries for the Pelicans rosters as the only two guys listed out are Zion and Kira. Didi Louzada returned from his PED suspension, but even in a blowout, he did not get any playing time. Let’s get into this great overall team win by the Pelicans.
It was clear that the offensive plan for Brandon Ingram was to give him the ball in post-ups using off-ball action instead of having him create from the perimeter with isolations and pick and rolls. For the first Pelicans possession, Ingram ran the Iverson cut across the free throw line, but the Clippers did their homework and disrupted the passing lane shutting down the play. Defensively, Herb started out on Reggie Jackson as he usually guards the best offensive threat on the other team. Just shows how good and versatile he is as a defender already as a rookie. Josh Hart pushed the first fastbreak and attacked Zubac for a layup, but on his next fastbreak, Batum blocked his layup attempt which we do not normally see unless it is good defenders like Batum - feel like people have forgotten about him since his Charlotte stint was so bad. BI knocked down his first and only 3-pointer of the game over Zubac as he passed the ball away and got it right back. Amir Coffey hit Josh Hart with a great crossover in transition for a big dunk. On the very next possession, Ingram drove into the paint, drew in the defense, and hit Hart in the corner for a wide open corner 3. Herb Jones had one of the best sequences of the entire game, and it of course started with defense. Graham was switched onto Marcus Morris after a pick and pop with Terance Mann and him. Herb doubled Morris the second Morris turns his back to post-up Graham and then recovers back to Mann once Morris passes out of the double. Mann then swings the ball to Coffey who drives to his left against Jonas, but Herb comes over and steals the ball from Coffey. He then dribbles down the court and finishes a 2 on 2 fastbreak with a eurostep. The Pelicans defense was great in forcing a lot of tough 3-pointers in the first quarter, as well. The Clippers implemented a 2-3 zone with 3 minutes left in the first quarter, and the Pelicans lineup finishing out the rest of the first quarter was Jose Alvarado, Gary Clark, Jaxson Hayes, Garrett Temple, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. I thought Jose Alvarado had his best game as being a leading point guard during this stretch. Maybe it stems from him just being out of college and playing against zone defenses recently compared to NBA guys rarely seeing it especially before these more recent seasons. Jose had multiple possessions were he would crab dribble and turtle his defender on his back in the middle of the paint while trying to read the defense. Jose hit Hayes with a pass in this exact situation as Hayes was standing in the dunker’s spot and flipped up a quick floater over Ibaka. Serge Ibaka was not extremely aggressive as the focal point of the Clippers zone which lead to a lot of mid-range/floater range shots. However, the zone did stifle this unit for a few possessions as they were trying to shoot 3’s to break the zone which is still not this team’s forte. The lineup mentioned is my only critique of Willie Green as I think this roster is not talented enough, especially with Zion out, to have a full bench lineup out on the court. Eric Bledsoe and Ibaka are vets and were able to get a lot of good looks in the pick and roll at the end of the first quarter to cut the lead to 13 points. Pelicans ended the quarter leading 28 to 15.
To start the second quarter, Hart and JV replaced Hayes and Clark. Jose had another possession where he turtled Ibaka and hit Temple in the corner for another wide open 3. The Clipper defenders were not rotating down from the break to even contest these corner 3’s by the Pelicans. NAW got two shots in the paint, one a stepback the other a floater, over Ibaka as he remained hesitant to commit to any shot around the rim. Terance Mann drew a foul on JV as the defense did not get back after a free throw attempt. The Clippers defense picked up it’s intensity after they stopped running their zone and were forcing the Pelicans into tougher shots compared to the first quarter. Jaxson Hayes was giving great minutes in his second stint as he was getting some time with the starters besides Jonas. Josh Hart followed Batum on a cut and poked the ball loose that basically shut down that Clippers offensive possession. Willie Green had a great pick and roll set between BI and JV after a timeout/commercial break. Ingram had a beautiful pump fake and spin jumper in the paint on Amir Coffey. On the last Pelicans offensive possession of the second quarter, LA blitzed Ingram on a Jonas pick and roll. BI passes it to Hart at the break who whips the pass into the paint to Jonas for a score, but JV was kind of lackadaisical with the ball, took his time going up for the layup, and was blocked by Batum as he came from the weak side corner. New Orleans ended the first half leading 53 to 34.
One of the first offensive possessions in the third quarter, Herb Jones cut to the top of the key and knocked down a confident 3-pointer as he shot the ball the second it touched his hands. Reggie Jackson lost his shoe during a Pelicans defensive possession, and Josh Hart ran down the floor and got an and-one layup as the Clippers were not set defensively. One wild offensive possession in the quarter, Ingram told Herb to cut into the paint and forces the pass to him. The ball gets deflected, and Herb dives on the ground for the loose ball and passes it to Jonas for the assist while laying on his back. Another offensive possession, BI got Zubac to defend him after some off-ball action, and the Clippers go to double Ingram. He throws a skip pass to Graham at the opposite break who pump fakes to draw in Reggie Jackson. Graham swings the ball to Herb who knocks down the corner 3 as Batum is closing out on him. Herb had a great defensive rotation where he X’ed out to Coffey without hesitation, and Coffey stepped out of bounds as he decided to drive on Herb’s hard closeout. To add insult to injury, Hayes knocked down a 3-pointer at the top of the key to keep the legacy going of Pelican centers shooting the shit out of the ball from 3-point range against them. Jonas finished the game 2 for 3 from 3-point range. Herb deflected a pass at the top of the key that went directly to BI who finished the fastbreak with a nice step through layup in traffic. Later in the third quarter Brandon Ingram really started to heat up from mid-range and take over the game. In the fourth quarter, the lowest the lead got to that I noticed was 13 points, and eventually, Willie Green put the starters back in who jumped the lead back up to 20.
Overall, a great all-around win to me especially defensively. The Clippers shot 38.3% from the field and 29.4% from 3-point range. The Pelicans only had 6 turnovers to LA’s 15 which was nice to see as the Pelicans can have some high turnover games. Brandon Ingram, #NBAAllStar, finished with 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists while shooting 10 for 19 from the field and finishing with the second highest +/- on the team at +27. Herb Jones, who I realized I pointed out a lot of his moments tonight, had the highest +/- at +29. He finished with 14 point, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals while shooting 5 for 6 from the field and 2 for 3 from 3-point range. The last guy’s stat line I want to point out from the bench is Jose Alvarado’s. He finished with 4 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals in 15 minutes. He was also a +4 for the game. The Pelicans next game is Saturday night at the Brooklyn Nets, Herb Jones won’t have to guard Kyrie Irving, at 6:30. Thanks for stopping by.