Clippers at Pelicans
The Los Angeles Clippers will try to tighten their grip on third place in the Western Conference standings when they open a five-game road trip Wednesday with a matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans. The Clippers stand two games behind the second-place Oklahoma City Thunder with 11 games remaining and are 1 1/2 games in front of the Houston Rockets, whom the Clippers visit Saturday. Los Angeles has been extraordinary at home this season, owning a 31-5 record, tops in the Western Conference, but is just three games above .500 on the road.
The Pelicans will be trying for their first four-game win streak since January 2012, having come up short on five ensuing three-game win streaks, most recently in a two-point loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on March 12, when the Pelicans gave up the game’s final nine points. Forward Anthony Davis is having the best offensive month of his two-year career, averaging 27.5 points in March to boost his overall average to 21.8. Since sitting out a loss to the Toronto Raptors last Wednesday with an illness, Davis has combined for 88 points and 36 rebounds in the last three games.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), FSN New Orleans
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (50-21): Guard Jamal Crawford lit up the Pelicans with seven 3-pointers when these teams last met Feb. 24 in New Orleans, helping the Clippers to a 123-110 victory. Crawford suffered a left calf strain two days later against the Rockets and missed eight of the next nine games, but the Clippers continued to win until their 11-game streak was snapped last week in Denver. Crawford is two games into his return and is still looking to regain his stroke as the team’s third-leading scorer (18.4) is just 2-for-12 from 3-point range in the last two contests.
ABOUT THE PELICANS (30-40): Guard Eric Gordon was drafted seventh overall by the Clippers in 2008 and spent his first three seasons in Los Angeles, but he’ll likely be remembered as the main piece that went to New Orleans in the trade that brought Chris Paul to the Clippers prior to the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, which pretty much turned around the franchise. Following a bout with knee injuries that limited Gordon to nine games in his first season in New Orleans, his next start will be his career-high 65th. However, Gordon has missed the past two games with knee pain and is averaging a career-low 15.4 points while shooting a career-best 39.1 percent from 3-point range.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Clippers have won 50 regular-season games in back-to-back years after not hitting that mark in the franchise’s previous 42 seasons.
2. Clippers F Blake Griffin has scored at least 20 points in 29 straight games.
3. The Pelicans announced Tuesday that F Ryan Anderson will undergo surgery next month to repair a herniated cervical disc and will miss the remainder of the season. Anderson, second on the team in scoring at 19.8 points, has been out since suffering the injury Jan. 3 against the Boston Celtics.