Pelicans at Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers survived a rough road trip and knocked off the San Antonio Spurs in their return home on Monday. The Clippers will look to make it three straight wins and five of six when they host the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday. After watching the offense take a dip in the beginning of the road swing, Los Angeles finished up with a 113-97 win at Washington and kept things in high gear with a 115-point outburst against the Spurs.
The Clippers were quick to credit their defense for leading to the offense, something Doc Rivers has been preaching since taking over as head coach during the summer. “I thought our defense was great,” Rivers said after the 115-92 win over San Antonio. The Pelicans are coming off a 104-93 loss at Golden State in which they struggled to defend the pick-and-roll combination of Stephen Curry and David Lee.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN New Orleans, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE PELICANS (11-12): The absence of Anthony Davis was clear against the Warriors, who built up a 58-44 advantage on the glass and got a combined 14-for-20 effort from Lee and Andrew Bogut against the New Orleans frontline. The Pelicans have dropped the first two of a five-game road trip and still need to travel to NBA-best Portland after dealing with Los Angeles. Tyreke Evans (ankle) has missed the first two games of the trip and remains day-to-day, stripping the bench of its most effective scorer.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (17-9): Chris Paul is 19-for-27 from the field in the last two games but wants to see his team continue this high level of play for a longer stretch. “I’m not reading too much into (the win over the Spurs),” he said. “I tell you, one thing about this league is it’s all about consistency, but we haven’t really put games like this together on a streak. We’ve done this before in games, but if we do this for a while I’ll feel better.” Los Angeles will get the chance to do just that at home with three more in its own building until a trip to Golden State on Christmas.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Paul is averaging 19.6 points and 10.7 assists in seven career games against his former franchise.
2. Los Angeles has taken three straight and five of the last six in the series.
3. New Orleans F Ryan Anderson is averaging 21 points over the last five games but is shooting just 37.4 percent from the field in that span.