A little less than a year ago, the New Orleans Pelicans and Los Angeles Clippers played a do-or-die game. The Pelicans trailed by 10 points going into the fourth quarter in their play-in tournament matchup yet still prevailed, a win that propelled them into the first round of the playoffs.
Saturday’s game didn’t have as high of stakes, but it was still an important meeting between two teams jockeying for position in the jumbled West.
Standout performances from Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas allowed the Pelicans to defeat the Clippers 122-114 and move one step closer to locking up a postseason spot.
Ingram’s hot streak continued. He scored 36 points on 13-of-23 shooting — his ninth consecutive game with 25 or more points.
Valanciunas was a dominant force on the interior. He tallied 23 points and 12 rebounds for his eighth double-double in his last nine games.
The Pelicans (40-38) have been one of the NBA’s most inconsistent teams this season, but they are playing some of their best basketball at the right time. They have won seven of their last eight games. They are in sole possession of seventh place in the West and hold a three-game lead over the 11th-place Dallas Mavericks with four regular-season games to go.
The Clippers took a 10-point lead in the first quarter. In a sign of how badly they wanted to win the game, Kawhi Leonard played on the second night of a back-to-back for the first time since April 2021.
Leonard lit the Pelicans up with his midrange shooting. He converted 15 of 28 looks en route to 40 points. But every time Leonard made a shot, the Pelicans had an answer.
There were 18 lead changes in the first three quarters. New Orleans held a one-point lead going into the fourth.
Ingram put the Pelicans on his back in the final quarter. With 4:24 to go, he drilled a 15 foot pull-up — the first of three consecutive midrange jumpers he made.
Then with 2:30 remaining, Ingram found Trey Murphy on a looping pass. Murphy scored a layup out of the sequence to put the Pelicans ahead by seven points.
Murphy scored 16 points on eight shot attempts. The second-year forward converted 9 of 11 foul shots.
The Pelicans’ accurate foul shooting was a big factor in their win. They made 31 of 35 free throws. Ingram sunk 10 of 11.
Leave a Reply