On January 6, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and the Pelicans met the Clippers at home.
In the first quarter of the game, the Pelicans hit a three-pointer from CJ at the beginning of the game, and the Clippers starters all contributed to the scoring, and the Pelicans focused on creating opportunities for Valanciunas, and after 15-16, the Pelicans beat the Clippers to take a 9-0, 24-16 lead. 16-24 behind, 4 minutes without scoring Clippers by Wei Shao steal counterattack dunk score to resolve the embarrassment, Wei Shao's vitality activated teammates, Powell shot three points after the Clippers scored 10 points in a row, 26-24 overtook the score, the first half ended the two teams tied 26-26.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Wei Shao still played aggressively, and the Pelicans played back and forth with the Clippers after Nance Jr. and Murphy hit consecutive three-pointers. However, the Clippers completely controlled the game on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends after 32-34, and the Pelicans fell into a scoring drought, and the Clippers scored a 15-2, 47-36 lead, and the Pelicans only scored two points on Ingram's shot. CJ also hit a three-pointer after Zion's free throw broke the scoring drought for the Pelicans, but the Clippers helped their teammates get plenty of open shots under Harden's breakaway compression, and the Clippers led 56-41 at the end of the first half.
Before the game, Harden scored 25,189 points in the NBA, only 3 points away from West, and at the end of the first half, Harden officially surpassed West to rise to 23rd place on the NBA all-time scoring list. Active players are second only to James and Durant.
At the beginning of the third quarter, Harden continued to lead his teammates to score with assists, and the Clippers led by 22 points at 66-44 after Leonard hit a three-pointer. After that, the two teams continued to tug at a 20-point margin, and Leonard played vigorously during this time, scoring 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting in the first quarter. The Pelicans went on a 9-0 run to score just 13 points, but Zubac and George scored back-to-back points, and Westbrook, George and Powell hit three three-pointers in the final minute to give the Clippers a 92-68 lead at the end of the third quarter.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter of the game, Powell hit three more points, the whole team made mistakes and couldn't continue to score, only 2 points after 5 minutes, the Clippers lowered the tempo and played more calmly, Theis and Coffey also scored, and the Clippers, who led by more than 30 points, won Leonard and other starters, George and Harden didn't punch in the third quarter, Wei Shao also left early, the Clippers were played by Coffey with a marginal bench lineup, and the goose and goose also won the main force, and the difference between the two sides hovered around 20 points, and the game lost suspense. In the end, the Clippers beat the Goose 111-95 away, and the team celebrated a five-game winning streak.
Statistics of both sides:
Pelicans: Ingram 12 points and 4 assists, Zion 12 points and 6 rebounds, Valanciunas 13 points and 11 rebounds, Jones 9 points and 2 assists, McCollum 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, Daniels 2 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals, Nance 7 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists, Alvarado 2 points, 2 assists and 2 blocks, Marshall 9 points and 3 rebounds, Hawkins 13 points.
Clippers: George 24 points and 7 rebounds, Leonard 19 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists, Zubac 15 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks, Mann 8 points and 3 rebounds, Harden 8 points, 3 rebounds and 13 assists, Powell 13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, Westbrook 8 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, Coffey 4 points and 3 rebounds, Plumlee 8 points and 2 rebounds.