The New Orleans Pelicans have been a thorn in the side’s Clippers in recent years, one of the few teams to master the means to beat them.
Friday night’s game had more significance than usual, with the Clippers and Pelicans heading into a first-round showdown of the playoffs. On one level, the game could have been even more important for a Clippers team that had lost 11 of its last 15 games against New Orleans.
The Clippers fought from behind for most of the game and were unable to overcome Zion Williamson and the Pelicans in a close game. 112-104 defeat.
Williamson scored 34 points to give the Pelicans their third win this season against the Clippers.
The Clippers (42-24), fourth in the Western Conference, still hold a two-game lead over the fifth-place Pelicans (40-26), which would give the Clippers home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs if they face each other as seeds No. 4 and 5.
“It’s important, especially if we end up being in the 4-5, just having home-court advantage,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said before the game. “I’m playing against a good team that has played well against us, that we really haven’t beaten much in the last three or four years.”
Paul Georges led the Clippers with 26 points and Kawhi Leonard had 23, but the Pelicans had five players score in double figures.
“This is an important game because teams are starting to jostle for position,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “You just want to win as many games as possible down the stretch.”
Although the Clippers said Terance Mann was available to return after limping to the locker room with 5:10 left in the second quarter, Mann took his place on the bench. Mann returned to the game with 6:56 left in the third quarter.
PJ Tucker was solid in his 24 minutes, scoring six points and standing out on defense with a game-high three blocked shots. Mann finished with nine points and four rebounds in 18 minutes.
Etc: James Harden missed his second straight game with a strained left shoulder. “He’s feeling better. He’s just not there yet,” Lue said. …The Clippers’ next game is Sunday night against the Atlanta Hawks at Crypto.com Arena.
