The last time the New Orleans Pelicans faced the Los Angeles Clippers, Zion Williamson recorded his second career triple double while Trey Murphy and CJ McCollum each scored 20-plus points.
But what a difference three weeks can make.
Murphy suffered a season-ending shoulder injury a week after that win.
Williamson and McCollum were shut down for the remainder of the season Monday due to nagging injuries.
As a result, Wednesday’s game against the Clippers went about like you would expect.
The Pelicans, playing for the first time in the Clippers’ state-of-the-art Intuit Dome, fell 114-98.
Jose Alvarado led the Pelicans with 17 points and 10 assists. It was Alvarado’s second double double of the season and third of his career.
A lack of outside shooting spelled doom for the Pelicans. They shot just 4-of-22 on 3-pointers. The Clippers, meanwhile, made 13-of-32 3-pointers.
“We need to get quality 3’s up,” said Pelicans’ coach Willie Green. “Guys have to find those open windows and we have to do a better job of taking care of the basketball.”
The Pelicans committed 15 turnovers.
Entering Wednesday’s game, the Pelicans had won 11 of their last 14 games against the Clippers. The Pelicans (21-55) didn’t have nearly enough firepower to keep that trend going against the Clippers (44-32).
The Pelicans were down 22-16 after one and 59-47 at halftime. They shot just 2-for-10 on treys in the first half. They made two in the first two minutes of the second half, but didn’t knock down another one the rest of the game.
Because of those shooting woes, the fact that the Pelicans outscored the Clippers 74-46 in the paint didn’t matter.
Bruce Brown scored 16 points and joined Alvarado and four other Pelicans in double figures.
Kelly Olynyk finished with 12 points. Antonio Reeves had 11. Karlo Matkovic and Jamal Cain scored 10 points each.
Kawhi Leonard's 28 points led the Clippers. Ivica Zubac, one of the league leaders in double doubles, finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
“Overall, the guys collectively went out and competed and played hard,” Green said. “There were some key moments where they made a couple more plays than we did.”
The Pelicans will remain in Los Angeles to play the Lakers Friday.