The Los Angeles Clippers passed the New Orleans Pelicans this Friday, winning by a 95-111 score that became much more forceful with up to 31 points of difference between both teams in the last quarter.
It is the Clippers’ fifth consecutive victorywhich between December and January have been able to carry out 14 wins in their last 16 gamesconsolidating itself as the fittest team in the NBA even ahead of the Boston Celtics.
The Pelicans, for their part, They stop the recent good streak of four games won and now they face the challenge of making a five-game tour of the West Coast.
Paul George He was the top scorer of the duel with 24 points and an exhibition from the triple with 6 of 10. He was supported by 19 points from Kawhi Leonard. James Harden y Russell Westbrook They added 8 each.
On the part of the locals, the blocking of scoring (35.9% in field goals at the end of the game) affected everyone in the second half, with the Lithuanian Jonas Valanciunas contributing the best numbers with a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds. CJ McCollum was important in some phases of the match by scoring 12 points, thanks to his 4 triples out of 9 attempts.
The Puerto Rican Jose Alvarado He had 2 points, a rebound and 2 assists for New Orleans.
The Clippers show their potential
The Pelicans came out very serious in the match, cementing their control of the game on good defense coupled with the effectiveness of their shooting. McCollum and Valanciunas scored the first two shots from the triplegaining confidence, while Zion Williamson punished in the inside game by drawing fouls and converting from the personal line.
Los Clippers needed five minutes to get their first lead of the night. They did not start inspired from long distance and they were not able to stop the locals near the rim.
More of Four minutes without scoring had its consequences for the Clippers. Thus came a 9-0 local run that took them to 24-16, with Valanciunas shooting up to 9 points in the first quarter.
A good closing of the period by the visitors, including a three-pointer by Norman Powell, allowed them to balance the score at 26-26.
Equality was the dominant note of the match during the first stages from the second quarter; Both teams were always one shot away from equalizing or going ahead on the scoreboard.
But inaccuracy took over the Pelicans and the Clippers They began to show all the offensive potential they possess, going up 11 points (36-47) with four minutes left before halftime and channeling a strong 2-15 run in six minutes.
Everything went further: the problems of scoring for the locals, who barely converted 15 points in the second quarter, and the excellent moment of the Clippers, who reached the halfway point of the match dominating by 15 points at 41-56 and a notable improvement in outside shooting (4 of 5 triples by the starters in the second quarter).
There was a reaction from the Pelicans at the restart, but the pace of the game and the confidence of the Clippers They were already so high that the game was falling more and more towards their side with the 20 points distance as a comfortable cushion.
It was the turn of Leonard, who put everything in the third quarter except for one free throw and he reached 11 points in this period. With him, George continued shooting from the perimeter and Ivica Zubac dominated the paint.
McCollum kept his team’s pulse in the game with two triples and Valanciunas withstood Zubac’s push, but everything was insufficient against this version of the Clippers in which anyone can revolutionize the game.
The Pelicans entered the final quarter at 68-92, aware that the night was going to be very difficult.
The sentence did not take long to arrive: a 2-9 for those of Tyronn Lue allowed them to surpass one hundred points with the 70-101 score that already forced Willie Green to turn the page with seven minutes left. The Smoothie King Center remained silent and emptied before the resounding superiority of Los Angeles.
2024-01-06 09:44:50
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