The Clippers challenge the Pelicans
Before you know it, the Los Angeles Clippers have become the hottest team in the league, and the Clippers have won all of the last 11 games in which Kawhi Leonard has played. Harden has found his place, the combination of George and Leonard, the offensive end is completely liberated, and the team currently occupies the fourth position in the West, but everyone knows that this is just the beginning, after all, the Clippers have won four in a row. In this game, the Clippers will challenge the New Orleans Pelicans away from home, and they are also on a four-game winning streak and are in sixth place in the West.
The Clippers and Pelicans have only one win difference, which means that as long as the Pelicans win this game, they can overtake the Clippers. In such a critical card battle, the Pelicans naturally play with an all-main lineup, and as for the Clippers, playing with an all-main lineup seems to have become their norm this season.
The suspense is lost in three verses
At the beginning of the first quarter of the game, the two teams were quite evenly matched, Varland dominated the interior, with 9 points, 5 rebounds and 1 block on 4-of-4 shooting, while Zion had 5 points and 3 rebounds, the team scored 26 points in a single quarter, and the Clippers happened to have 26 points, of which George got 7 points and 1 rebound on 3-of-5 shooting, and Powell had 5 points and 1 assist. After returning from the game in the second quarter, the Pelicans completely fell into a scoring drought, Ingram, Zion and McCollum, the three cores were all 4 shots and 1 shot, and Varland also lost the magic of the first quarter, and the team only scored 15 points in a single quarter, which was miserable.
The Clippers naturally didn't miss the opportunity, George scored 8 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist, and Harden also had 5 points, 2 rebounds and 6 assists, and the team scored 30 points in a single quarter, leading the Pelicans by 15 points at halftime 56-41. In the second half, Ingram and Zion still failed to step up, but Jones scored 7 points and 2 steals, McCollum had 6 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist, and the team scored 27 points in a single quarter, but the Clippers didn't want to dream too much. Leonard scored 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting, George had nine points and two rebounds, Zubac had eight points and four rebounds, and Harden didn't score but dished out six assists to stretch the margin to 24 points.
In the final quarter of the game, the Pelicans didn't want to give up, but Zion suffered a contusion in his right leg and subsequently announced his withdrawal from the game. In such a situation, the Clippers did not give the Pelicans any chance, and the team once took a 31-point lead, making the game completely out of suspense. In the end, the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans by 111-95 points on the road.
Zhuang Yuanlang left the field injured
The Los Angeles Clippers won another big game, bringing their winning streak to five and gradually securing the fourth place in the West. It is worth mentioning that in this game, the Clippers Big Four did not exert their strength, George shot 9 of 15, 6 of 10 three-point shots, got 24 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist, Leonard shot 7 of 15, 19 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists, Harden shot 2 of 7, 8 points, 3 rebounds and 13 assists, and only had 1 turnover. When Harden no longer needs to score and completely transforms into a playmaker, then this is the best Los Angeles Clippers.
Wei Shao came off the bench and only played 22 minutes, with 8 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists on 3-of-6 shooting, plus 2 steals and 2 blocks, full of vitality. Powell had 13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, a team-high plus/minus of +36, and he was far ahead. On the Pelicans' side, Varland had 13 points and 11 rebounds and was already the team's best player, while McCollum was 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists on 4-of-13 shooting. Ingram had 12 points, 1 rebound and 4 assists on 3-of-9 shooting, and Zion only had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist on 3-of-9 shooting.