Pelicans at Lakers
The New Orleans Pelicans will try to salvage a victory on their three-game road trip when they visit the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. New Orleans lost by 27 points to the Golden State Warriors on Thursday and by 20 to the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, but should matchup better against the struggling Lakers. Los Angeles is coming off a three-game trip in which it won the opener against the Detroit Pistons but lost the next two by double figures to the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics.
Kobe Bryant continues to lead the league in scoring by a slim margin over James Harden of the Houston Rockets and Anthony Davis of the Pelicans, but has made at least half his shots in just two games this season — and he went 21-for-54 from the field on the recently concluded road trip. Davis takes most of his shots a lot closer to the basket than Bryant, but he’s still exceptionally efficient, especially lately, connecting on 23-of-34 shots in the past two games. Luke Babbitt has served notice that he deserves more playing time for the Pelicans, shooting 8-for-13 from long range in the past four games.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, FS New Orleans, TW SportsNet (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE PELICANS (8-10): New Orleans is playing the second game in two nights but had the luxury of staying in the same hotel with both games at Staples Center. The Pelicans won their first three times on the second game of back-to-backs before losing their fourth such contest last weekend at Washington. Starting point guard Jrue Holiday, a Los Angeles-area native, is overdue for a big game after scoring below his 14.8-point average in each of the last two games.
ABOUT THE LAKERS (5-15): Jordan Hill has suddenly seen his playing time decline, which seems perplexing for one of team’s best players in November. He played 23 minutes against the Wizards and a season-low 22 against the Celtics, despite making all six of his field-goal attempts. Hill had nine double-doubles in 14 games last month but hasn’t come close the past two games, finishing with eight points and six rebounds against the Wizards and 13 points and four rebounds against Boston.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Lakers recalled PG Jordan Clarkson from the D-League on Saturday night, about four hours after they sent him down, and he’ll be available against the Pelicans.
2. Los Angeles allowing a league-high 111.2 points a game, two more than they averaged last season while giving up the league’s second-most points.
3. Davis, who led the NBA in steals entering Saturday, had a season-low three rebounds in the loss to the Clippers and didn’t record a steal for the first time this season, dropping him fractionally behind Atlanta's Paul Millsap (2.3) for the league lead.