Clippers fall to the Pelicans in New Orleans 127-120

Welcome into Clipperstock. First show this season. I believe on the Patriot AM eleven fifty when the Dodgers are on AM five to seventy, even if it's spring training and you know the game is final out as called before we get on the air, we'll be on the Patriot AM eleven fifty. So eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty is the phone number if you want to get on. And I know those people that are gonna be frustrated to night after this one, I try to

warn everyone. People are like, save Kawhi for Miami. No, he should have played against the Pelicans tonight. He was their best player because the Pelicans are the more dangerous team they are. I told you yesterday on Clippers talking clips and dip. If they have zion, if they have ZJ CJ, they're dangerous. They're a live dog. Do you not know how the Clippers play against this team? Exhibit a your honor, A one twenty seven, A one twenty lost. They have lost seven of their last nine games in

New Orleans. Now I believe seven of their last nine. The way they lost this one though, I mean, there are so many different ways the Clippers blew this basketball game. First of all, you don't get down twenty one in the first half and put yourself in this uphill battle where at the four to twenty five of the second it's fifty five to thirty four Pels. After Jose Alvarado, who went four or five from the outside, hit a

three pointer, they're up twenty one. Just the lack of urgency and the second unit next to Kawhi has not been good enough. They've been pretty poor. Clippers backups in this game, didn't play well enough. The bench scoring wasn't good enough, especially in the first half. Bogie would hit a big three but then miss others. I just never felt like the Clippers were fully engaged compared to what we just saw at into a Dome the last three games. It's a completely different team on the road. Road games

are tough no matter what. As handgun two three to two said, we are three and thirteen versus the Pelicans since and since twenty twenty one, three and thirteen against the Pelicans since twenty twenty one. And they shot themselves in the foot again. The Kobe Brown minutes whatever, it's not why they lost. He got four minutes again. You can argue not having a true backup big is really hurting them. Not having Ben Simmons is hurting them. Not having that small ball unit with Ben Simmons is really

hurting them. Before we even get to Norman Powell. And it's not like the Pelicans haven't had a ton of injuries. They don't have Herb Jones, they don't have his Jeante Murray. This is only like the twenty sixth, twenty seventh game from Zion. The Clippers are missing guys. Yes, the problem was the Pelicans weren't missing threes, some of them tough shots, some of it. I think it's just not good enough rotations by the Clippers and not coming in and bringing

that defensive mentality. You let a team go for their season high as seventeen of thirty one, that's fifty five percent from three against you, it's gonna be a long night. And even with the Clippers battling the way they did, they had it to within ten by the end of the second quarter. I was happy with that. It felt like they had momentum after being down by twenty one. After that Jose Alvarado side step three, he hit ridiculous shot. The Clippers made some Hay Kawhi had a steal on

CJ then a three. Before that, Zoo had a dunk on a high pick and roll which they didn't run nearly enough. Now the Clippers are down sixteen. Chris Dunn Steele hardened to Kawhi for a layup fifty seven to forty three, beautiful pass by James Harden, a DJ dunk, a Zoo floater, a hardened three, and it was a seven to one run by the Clippers to end the first half had them within ten at sixty one to fifty one. I think the score was. They start off the third quarter the way they should have started off

the ballgame. So you don't find yourself in this position, in this hole that you have to dig out of, because that takes a lot of energy and you're gonna have to guard Zion down the stretch. If you are in a close game with the Pelicans, it's the worst place to be because of Zion. To even he's leaving like he did multiple times, attacking the basket with scoop layups or dunks. But to start the third what a concept.

Vita Zubats getting a dunk off a transition pass from James Harden Zoo to Kawhi for a dunk when they doubled him. Kawhi slot cut, easy dunk Zoo hook shot Zoo to Done for a layup while they're doubling him and tripling him. At times. The entire offense was being run through a Viza zobots and they got to within six quick then Nico hit a th They're down three at sixty five to sixty two. He would then miss

two in a row. The Clippers actually clicked in and went on a twenty eight to ten run from the end of the second quarter to the three thirty seven mark. Excuse me, from three thirty seven left in the second quarter through the first half of the third quarter, twenty eight to ten run by the Clippers. But I believe the Pelicans went nine of twelve from three in that third quarter as good as the Clippers offense was in the third. Let me run the numbers here, because I

think the Pelicans they pretty much matched them. Let's see here, make it what six for nine, Yeah, they went six for nine from three in the third the Pelicans, the Clippers were good, they went they matched them. They were six for thirteen. The Clippers only won the third quarter though, by two points. You put up a thirty nine spot and you will only win the third quarter by two points. Why because of this sequence? Hard misses a three Murphy nails one that was still earlier in the quarter. It's

eighty seven all after a hardened layup Murphy. It is a three ninety eighty seven Pels Bogey misses one Murphy a long three got thirty footer. It's ninety three eighty seven. Harden gets blocked CJ three nine oh run Bogie would get nan one, but then Zion with five seconds left, flew up the floor, got an easy bucket, and instead of being a tie game heading into the fourth, instead of the Clippers really cutting into that ten point lead, they only went plus two in the third. They're still

down eight to start the fourth. While we have a moment, let's pause ten seconds for station identification. Here on the Patriot AM eleven fifty, this is.

Kawhi is not taking shots. I don't know why to start the fourth, I just read you the lineup, it probably should be Kawhi taking a shot early on or Vitza Zubots. Instead we get DJ missing a three, Coffee missing a three, Bogie missing a shot, and the Clippers are down fifteen. You have a Viza Zubats and Kawhi Leonard out there, and it's Bogey, Emir and DJ taking jump shots to start the fourth quarter. One of those two guys either didn't demand the ball or didn't get

the ball. That's problematic. Now out of the time out after being down by fifteen, when it was an eight point game, and that all happened quickly. They got down by fifteen in less than two minutes. Amir hits a three out of a timeout. Zion splits the defense though for a dunk one to seven and ninety three Alvarado three, and now you're down seventeen. I want to see who took the shot for the Clippers. It was mere Coffee Zoo out an offensive rebounds, he missed two, so Amir

just made of three. Now he misses one, meets the Zubot's offensive rebound, can't get the hook shot over Mobamba Alvarado three. Pelicans drop seventeen with nine to seventeen left in the ballgame. Why are you putting yourself in that position? Why is Kawhy not taking a shot? What is going on? He's out there with limited minutes, He's not to getting a shot up. He hasn't taken one yet. Three minutes into the period. You're hemorrhaging. Dj would get Na one

to bring it back to fourteen. Pelicans turnover, done three, big shot for him, then a done Steele on z as he trapped him with the Vita Zubots. He got blocked by Zion on the chase down and like the entire basketball rolled off of the backboard before he got a hand on it. It was the most obvious goaltend. It should have been too, it was Clippers possession. Still, Amir did knock down a baseline fade away. Nine point game. The Pelicans are rattled. Alverado travel on a double dribble

thanks to Don he had some incredible plays. Zion goes to the bench, Mikovich has a defensive three seconds cold on him. Harden hits the free throw. It's an eight point game. Nine Oh, Clipper run Zubos floater. Hey, they got him the basketball. It's a six point game. Eleven zero run Mikovich. He ends up getting a hook shot over at Viata Zubats. Clippers backed down by eight, Kawhi takes a shot. I believe this is his first take of the fourth quarter. Let me see at what point

this was. Correct me if I'm wrong, guys, but I think his first take came at the six twenty seven mark. He was in and out on a midi from ten feet. Kauiet twenty three points heading into the fourth What's going on? That speaks to just a lack maybe a familiarity out there and consistency of who you're playing through offensively. Maybe Kawhi was tired, not demanding the ball. Pelicans have another

turnover done floater six point game done. Steal an incredible one, but threw it off Kawhi's foot as she was trying to get it up ahead to him. Think Kawhi is a steal on an entry pass to Murphy hard and layup four point game time out. The Clippers are right there, but now Kawhi is out at the four to forty three mark. Amir comes in for him. Zuo dj Emir done. James Harden Zion layup, Clippers down six turnover by Zoo trying to back down Zion. Really the one bad play

from beats the Zoo bots. Bad turnover, wrong time, CJ three. After a Zion offensive rebound, huge shot, Zoo comes back and gets a bucket on Murphy. Seven point game. Murphy miss three, Harden to the line, hits both five point game. Kawhi steals it from Zion. I don't know how he ripped that away. DJ goes to the free throw line. Here is the problem. You are down by five. Winnable game, elite defensive play on that steal from Kawhi, the game is there. DJ goes to the free throw line. With

two thirty three left, it's one seventeen to one to twelve. Pels. I mean, Clippers been in worse spots. They just came back down seven with a minute forty eight left against the Kings on the fourth to get to overtime. They've been in worse spots. They're down seven again, down excuse me, They're down five at one seventeen to one twelve. DJ makes the first four point game, misses the second inexplicably unbelievable. CJ. McCollum misses a three. Kawhi airballs a three pointer Zion

unstoppable layup, six point game. Zoo gets fouled now by CJ. McCollum. Was it hack of Clippers out there? Did they know they were gonna go one for two? This was intentional? This was planned because Zoom is the second also, and it's a five point game. One nineteen one, fourteen, one forty two left. Brutal time to start missing your free throws. Then Kawhi makes a heck of a defensive play. Or excuse me, the Clippers I think done might have tapped it to James. Harden got to Kawhi. He goes for

the and one. In transition, there's his first two points of the fourth quarter. Kawhi's first two points as he gets fouled by CJ. And that got him down by three with one fifteen left. He misses the free throw to bring it to within two. Unreal Kawhi foul Zion, he would not miss. Five point game. Harden throws a lob to Zoo when it's broken up. I think by Murphy. Clippers get the stop steal down by five. Harden misses in open three top side above the break three. Jose

Alvarado layup, Clippers down seven. They lose by seven, seven to one. Quick phone call, then we'll take a time out here, Eli and Whittier. You're on Clippers stop without a Mauslind what's up? Eli?

time out come back. Clippers lose in New Orleans loss one twenty seven to one to twenty to the Pelicans. I'm out of Maslin. This is Clippers stock here on the Patriot Amblem fifty.

turnovers in the third as the Clippers were rolling. Kawhi just hit a three point to get to twenty three points. Clippers are down by three hard and three ties the game, and the Clippers get their first lead off a hardened to Zoo throwdown at seventy seven to seventy five in the third quarter. Firstly, the ballgame, I need to see the time of which that happened, because it felt like,

here we go, the Clippers are in complete control. There's five minutes and eight seconds left in the third, So the Pelicans would go plus ten the rest of the way because they were up by eight heading into the fourth. But Harden had back to back turnovers on a lob to DJ that ended up in a Brown layup after a Hawkins three pointer, and then there was another turnover hard and looking for Bogie that did hurt them. I'm

not putting this game on James though. There's no one guy you can just single out and put it in a neatly wrapped a bow and say this is what happened. It's this simple. This guy plays better, we win the game. I could point to multiple guys missing free throws late that was rough. I can point to the tray Murphy threes in the third quarter, Zion going coast to coast. But like, there's some stuff I can live with. Zion

is a load there. There are very few guys in NBA history that could find a way to slow him down when he's going like that. In transition, he's Barkley and LJ and Blake Griffin all rolled into one at times and Shack. Really he's tough to handle. But the three pointers and the three point shooting. I know some of these shots were tough, But I didn't feel like the Clippers were good enough defensively throughout most of the night. Just didn't they ramped up their defense once they got

down seventeen in the fourth they cost seven turnovers. Here's a rough stat just saw this from Lot Murray. The Clippers were fourteen and one entering tonight when they scored one hundred and twenty points this season. At their offense was good enough, the defense wasn't. They're now fourteen to two. Of course, after losing one twenty seven to one twenty they overcame being down by twenty one. Then they get down by seventeen. They still had a chance to win

that game, or at least get into overtime. They miss free throws, They're finding ways to lose. That's hard. We'll take a quick time out, we'll come back. Eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty. It is difficult to zero in on one thing the Clippers did wrong because they were a multitude a myriad of reasons they lost this game. Not good enough, inconsistent play all round, within quarters, within

back to back possessions, just very inconsistent Bowl game. I'm out of Maslin. You're listening to Clippers hock here on the Patriot amleven fifty.

he made eighty percent of his threes. Let's see if that's accurate. No, he had a seven per seven three point shooting game against Cleveland that they lost. Wow, so some of it's fluky. He's also a good player. The Trey Murphy thirty foot three after he just knock one down in the third. That haunts me. I'm outa Oslin Clippers lose in New Orleans one twenty seven, twenty two the Pelicans. Let's go to Jose and Downey Jose, what's.

inconsistent play out there. We'll take a time out. I'm out of Maslin. Clippers almost came back down twenty one, almost came back down seventeen, but almost does not cut it. When you look at the Western Conference, standings right now, we'll update you on those next. Clippers fall twenty seven to one twenty in New Orleans of the Pelicans. I'm out of males. This is Clippers stock here on the Patriot AM eleven fifty.

and a half games back. Why because Minnesota has the tiebreaker over them. Clippers are two games back of the Golden State Warriors for the sixth spot. Clippers do have the tie breaker over them. Clippers are a game and a half up on Sacramento currently in the ninth spot, and that's really two and a half games up because they have the tie breaker over them. Dallas is they did win yesterday, I think, but they could fall out. They're in a good position for seven or eight, but

it's looking more like eight. How are they gonna catch Minnesota? They need here's what they need to lose around them, Sacramento who's behind them Minnesota? And Golden State who's in front of them? If you want any chance of moving up to seventh or sixth. But that's looking like more and more of an outside shot. But they do play Golden State again. Clippers lose by seven to the Pelicans.

They will be in Miami tomorrow, pregame at four. Right back here, before we get out of here, I do want to thank the Clippers organization, Ralph Lawler, Brian Seman, Noah Egle, Carlo Jimenez on the call, Danielle West, our producer back here in Burbank, the callers, the listeners, the chatters appreciate you guys. We will talk to you tomorrow with the pregame show starting at four, Clippers taking on Miami in Miami, Dania victory. Please God, all right? We can get out.