 and Lonzo Ball (groin) sidelined, as well.George’s 3 cut the Pelicans’ lead to 126-123 with 42 seconds left. But the Clippers left Jackson unguarded on the perimeter on the other end, and he took his time squaring up and connecting on his fourth 3 of the game to restore New Orleans’ six-point lead with 30 seconds left.J. J. Reddick, who started and scored 19, hit two free throws with 11.4 seconds left to help wrap up just New Orleans’ third victory in 11 games this season.Williams scored 31 points and Rodney McGruder 20 for the Clippers, who’ve dropped two straight.The Pelicans trailed 43-36 early in the second quarter when they put together the game’s first big run.Favors scored six straight Pelicans points on a free throw, a tip-in and his first 3-pointer of the season from the left corner. Holiday followed with a 3 soon after that capped a 13-1 run which put New Orleans up 50-44.Holiday added two more 3s, and Jackson another to widen New Orleans’ lead to 14 at 66-52. Holiday added a driving dunk and finger roll to push his two-quarter total up to 24 points, and the Pelicans carried a 72-59 lead into halftime.The Clippers needed less than a quarter to surge back into the lead, however.George opened the second half with a quick driving layup, pull-up jumper and a 3 as part of an 11-2 run to make it 74-70.Los Angeles inched ahead when Williams hit a 3 and followed with a driving layup as he was fouled to make it 88-86, and neither team led by more than eight after that.TIP-INSClippers: Montrezl Harrell had 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting. ... McGruder came in 1 of 6 on 3s for the season and hit 5 of 7 in New Orleans. ... The Clippers were 11 of 24 from 3, with George hitting 3 of 5.Pelicans: E’Twaun Moore scored 15 in his first start of the season as the Pelicans used their eighth starting lineup in their first 11 games. ... Guard Josh Hart (left knee and ankle sprains) and center Jahlil Okafor (left ankle sprain) both joined Ingram, Ball and top draft choice Zion Williamson in street clothes on the bench.UP NEXTClippers: Host Atlanta on Saturday night in the first of five straight home games.Pelicans: Begin a weekend of back-to-back games at Miami on Saturday night, followed by a home date with Golden State on Sunday night.---More NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Nov 14, 2019The Los Angeles Clippers are getting healthy.The New Orleans Pelicans hope to start getting healthy.Paul George could make his Clippers debut when L. A. visits New Orleans on Thursday. He hasn't played this season because of surgery on both shoulders that took place before he was traded to the Clippers in the summer.Los Angeles also has been limiting fellow newcomer Kawhi Leonard's action on back-to-backs for load management. Generally he has sat out the first game of back-to-backs, but he started and played 41 minutes in a 102-93 loss at Houston on Wednesday night, leaving his status for Thursday unclear.Whether or not George and Leonard take the court together for the first time Thursday, fans around the NBA are impatient to see the pairing that has thrust the Clippers into the discussion of championship contenders."You just can't buy into what people are saying," Leonard said. "My health is No. 1. That's what's gonna make us be a better team, make me be healthy, so we'll just see how things go." The Clippers are off to a 7-4 start without having their dynamic duo together, but it hasn't been easy, according to coach Doc Rivers."Honestly, it has probably been harder than we thought because we are still in the process of getting Kawhi right 100 percent, and then you don't have Paul at all," Rivers said Wednesday."Then you have a select few practices, and you have to make a choice every practice: Do you put Paul in the lineup even though he's not playing, but then you got to play tomorrow with another group, or do you put Paul in the second group? And we have chosen the second group, even the third group at times." The other Los Angeles players are eager to see how all the pieces fit together."That's another guy who on both ends of the floor is a truly phenomenal player," Clippers forward Maurice Harkless said of George, a six-time All-Star wing. "And defensively, I don't think he gets enough credit (although) he's always in the running for All-Defensive team." The Pelicans have had to adjust to a changing lineup on an almost nightly basis. They played without three injured starters in a 122-116 home loss to the Rockets on Monday, a result that left them with a 2-8 record."We can't feel sorry for ourselves," New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said. "We're never going to start using who's out and who's not playing as an excuse. We've got all of these guys, we put depth on our team, and so next man up has to play and the next man up has to play well." No. 1 overall draft choice Zion Williamson is still weeks away from his NBA debut after he had arthroscopic knee surgery on the eve of the season opener. Starting point guard Lonzo Ball is expected to miss his third consecutive game because of a groin injury, and leading scorer Brandon Ingram (25.9 points per game) was a late scratch Monday because of right knee soreness.An MRI on Ingram's knee was clear Tuesday, and Gentry said Ingram could play as soon as Thursday.JJ Redick moved into the starting lineup in Ball's absence and scored a season high in both games, getting 24 against Houston after having 22 in a 115-110 victory at Charlotte on Saturday.Redick said the Pelicans have to do a better job with defensive rebounding and reducing turnovers and fouls."We are giving up a large chunk of points just on that stuff, and some of that is figuring out the system and a lot of new guys, a lot of new lineups," he said. "There are reasons behind that other than, 'We're just playing bad basketball.' Hopefully as this season progresses, we will get more comfortable." --Field Level Media
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