Pelicans 109, Clippers 105
NEW ORLEANS -- Despite learning before the game that All-Star forward Anthony Davis would have season-ending knee surgery, the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans placed six of their eight dressed players in double figures, led by Jrue Holiday with 22, and defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 109-105 Sunday night at the New Orleans Arena.
Holiday hit two free throws with 24.8 seconds left to give the Pelicans a 106-103 lead. J.J. Redick cut it to 106-105 with a reverse layup at 15.3 seconds, but Luke Babbitt made two free throws to make it 108-105 with 14.5 seconds left.
The Clippers had no timeouts, and Austin Rivers missed a 3-pointer with one second left.
Every Pelicans starter scored in double figures. In addition to Holiday, the Pelicans were also led by Dante Cunningham (19 points), Tim Frazier (17), Omer Asik (15), Toney Douglas (14) and Babbitt (12). Asik also added 14 rebounds.
The Clippers (43-26) lost for the fourth time in five games. They were led by Chris Paul and J.J. Redick, who scored 24 points each.
The Pelicans led 102-88 with 2:18 left, but Los Angeles cut it to 104-101 with a 13-2 run, sparked by 3-pointers from Redick, Paul and Jamal Crawford.
Earlier, Frazier converted a layup and foul shot to extend the Pelicans' lead to 87-76 with 8:19 left, and New Orleans began to intentionally foul DeAndre Jordan. Jordan went to the line in three consecutive trips, and he foiled the strategy by making four of six free throws.
Cunningham hit a driving layup and foul shot to put New Orleans up 90-82, but the Clippers responded with a driving layup by Crawford and a layup by Rivers off a great feed from Paul, making it 90-86 at 5:35.
The Clippers came out ice cold in the third quarter, missing 12 of their first 13 shots, and the Pelicans took advantage to build a 70-59 lead. Paul had the Clippers' first field goal of the quarter with a floating jumper in the lane with 4:57 left.
The Clippers' bench came in to spark a 10-3 run to cut the New Orleans lead to 78-72, but the Clippers made just four of 18 shots in the quarter, 22.2 percent. New Orleans outscored Los Angeles 24-16 in the quarter,
The Pelicans dressed out only eight players, but they trailed just 56-54 at halftime behind Holiday's 13 points and five assists. The Clippers' backcourt of Paul and Redick had 17 points each. Redick hit 7 of 8 shots from the field, including 3 of 4 from long range.
The Pelicans surprisingly outrebounded the Clippers 24-19 in the half and held Jordan to one offensive rebound.
NOTES: Clippers coach Doc Rivers commiserated with New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry for having to endure an injury-plagued season. Gentry's latest complication was having to shelve PF Anthony Davis for the final 14 games of the season. Davis will have surgery for knee and shoulder injuries. "(Davis) probably could play, obviously, but you've got to look for his future," Rivers said. "It's been an awful year for injuries. I don't know if I've seen one team go through injuries like this through the year." ... Rivers still was hot over what he called a lack of effort by the Clippers in a 113-102 road loss at Memphis on Saturday. "It always matters to me how we play," Rivers said. "When we don't perform well because we don't have the focus, then I'm not happy." ... The Pelicans used their 34th different starting lineup this season.