The Clippers finally got one to go their way Sunday night, and the biggest difference was the group coming off the bench.
Los Angeles snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 139-123 win over the New Orleans Pelicans at Intuit Dome, its first victory since opening night. It was also the first time in a while the Clippers finished the job in the fourth quarter, opening the final period on a 15-6 burst to move ahead 117-101 and eventually stretch the margin to 20.
That mattered because the last two games had followed the same ugly script: a double-digit fourth-quarter lead, then a collapse. This time, the Clippers didn’t blink.
New Orleans did what losing teams often do in these spots - it punched back. The Pelicans erased a 13-point second-quarter deficit, then opened the third with an 18-10 run and briefly grabbed a 78-77 lead. For a moment, it looked like more of the same for Los Angeles.
Ty Lue said he used the timeout to challenge his team to stay with it, and Kobe Sanders answered with a three-pointer at the 2:23 mark of the third quarter that put the Clippers ahead 94-93 for good.
"They're going to make a run," Lue said. "It's a game of runs."
The cleanest part of the night was the ball movement. The Clippers committed a season-low 11 turnovers after entering the game averaging an NBA-worst 20.1 per contest. They also piled up 34 assists and shot a season-best 54.8% from the field.
"Just sharing the basketball, attacking and making the right play," Lue said of the 34 assists.
The Pelicans got 26 points from Trey Murphy III, 25 from Jeremiah Fears and 25 from Zion Williamson, who was a perfect 9-of-9 from the field. But Los Angeles had enough answers to keep them from making it a game down the stretch.
Darius Garland was at the center of it all, finishing with 24 points and 10 assists while looking far more settled than he has for most of the season. He moved the ball early, attacked before the defense could crowd him and helped keep the offense flowing.
"Having 10 assists was huge for us, too," Lue said.
Brook Lopez added 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, but the bench was the real engine here. The reserves scored 59 points, with Gradey Dick posting a season-high 15 on 6-of-7 shooting and Keaton Wagler matching him with 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including three made threes in 18 minutes.
Baba Miller chipped in 12 points, five rebounds and four assists off the bench with Isaiah Jackson sidelined by a groin injury, and Garland made it clear where the separation came from when asked about the late push.
"That was the second unit," Garland said, before naming Sanders, Wagler, Miller, Dick and Max Strus.
Lue said Dick’s production hasn’t caught him off guard.
"He’s a lottery pick, so we knew he was talented, and sometimes it’s about the right fit," Lue said.
At 2-7, one win doesn’t erase the start the Clippers have dug for themselves. But this one looked different, and that alone gives them something to hold onto. The turnovers were down, the offense was sharper, and when New Orleans made its move, Los Angeles answered instead of folding.
The rotation could get even more interesting soon, too, with Brandon Ingram close to making his Clippers debut after heel surgery. Garland said that should help ease some of the pressure on him.
"I don't think I'll be getting doubled as much," Garland said.
In Other News...
Clippers Are Making One Major Pacers Trade Look Worse Early
The early returns on a Pacers-Clippers deal are not flattering for Indiana, at least not from the perspective of what it gave up to get Ivica Zubac and Kobe Brown. In a trade that cost the Pacers multiple draft picks along with Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson, the hope was that Zubac would bring steadiness and production in the middle, but the opening stretch of the regular season has made the price tag look heavier than expected.
Jackson has already been more productive than Zubac, and he has given the Clippers a useful interior presence while the veteran center has fallen short of the level Indiana likely envisioned. It is still early enough for the broader picture to shift, but for now the trade is inviting more questions than answers, especially as the Pacers wait to see whether the long-term value they surrendered will eventually be justified. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Ingram Could Be The Clippers Lift They Desperately Need
Brandon Ingram is getting closer to giving the Clippers a much-needed boost after spending nearly six months in rehabilitation. The forward has been working his way back from a major setback and has now advanced into three-on-three and five-on-five full-contact practices, a sign that his recovery is moving in the right direction as he regains confidence in his body.
For a Clippers team trying to steady itself after a difficult start, the timing matters almost as much as the talent. Ingrams return would add another proven option to a roster that has been waiting for reinforcements, and the hope inside the organization is that a healthier group can finally start to look more like the team it expected to be. [Read more 🡒]
Clippers Backcourt Is Under Fire But One Decision Still Looks Right
Darius Garlands early stretch with the Clippers has been bumpy, and the backcourt questions around him are only getting louder as the team sits at 2-7. Even so, the move that brought him to Los Angeles still looks defensible on the surface, because Garland has at least been producing more efficiently than the player he was swapped for, James Harden, who is now in Cleveland and has not found his footing there.
Hardens numbers with the Cavaliers have been underwhelming, with his shooting lagging and his overall impact not matching the expectations that came with the change of scenery. Garland has his own issues to clean up, especially with turnovers, but the bigger picture for the Clippers is that one of their most scrutinized decisions still appears to have a logic to it, even if the full verdict is still very much in progress. [Read more 🡒]