In this season's NBA regular season, the Purple and Gold Army Lakers and Clippers can be said to be two extremes, the Lakers in the case of the big three, can not break into the top ten in the West, so that they have completely become the laughing stock of the league, and the Clippers rely on a group of role players to play, has been firmly ranked eighth in the West, which also makes fans think that as long as the Pepper combination returns, this Clippers team can become the biggest favorite of the championship!
According to the season's format, the last two playoff places need to be decided through the playoffs, in the first playoff, the Clippers were defeated by the Timberwolves in the final quarter when they once had the initiative, and if they wanted to appear on the playoff stage, they had to win the life-and-death battle with the Pelicans, but in such a critical game, Paul George triggered a health and safety agreement to prevent them from playing, which was undoubtedly a huge good news for the Pelicans, after the game began, The Pelicans also played a very good performance under the leadership of Ingram, establishing a double-digit lead early, but the Clippers, known as the king of reversals, still stubbornly played the game back, the third quarter of a single quarter net win of 20 points, but unfortunately the last quarter collapsed again The opponent played a 31-17, and finally the Clippers lost to the Pelicans 101-105 and missed the playoffs, a hard season, and finally became an ending with the Lakers, which became the ridicule of many fans!
In this game, the Clippers not only lacked the big general Paul George, Ken Mambakena was also absent due to injury, which had a great impact on the overall combat effectiveness of the Clippers, but in such an unfavorable situation, they still showed full resilience, under the command of head coach Tyren Lu, relying on team basketball and opponents until the last moment.
The Clippers scored double-digit points in four players throughout the game, including Morris Jr. and King Reggie Jackson Jr., carrying the team's offensive banner, Morris Jr. made 4 of 11 three-pointers, cutting 27 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, while Reggie Jackson still contributed 27 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 1 block under the focus of the opposition, which is why they were able to fight with the Pelicans to the end.
McCollum, who joined the team on the trade deadline, performed poorly in the life and death battle, only 9 shots in 24 shots, and only 1 of 7 three-point shots, although he scored 19 points, but almost became the sinner of the team's loss, fortunately, two Lakers veterans broke out, Ingram in order to realize his dream of the first playoff, the game was full of firepower, the first game was 42.4 minutes, 21 shots hit 14 goals, one person bombed 30 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.
Another Lakers veteran Nance, who came off the bench, carried the team's interior line, and cut 14 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block of 7 of 8 very efficient double-double data, which was the excellent performance of the two of them, giving the Purple and Gold Army a face in front of the city's mortal enemies.
Paul and his Suns were undoubtedly the happiest to see the Pelicans enter the playoffs in eighth place in the West, after all, they played against the Clippers in the playoffs last season and know how difficult the latter is, compared to the Pelicans, who are easier to deal with!