LA Clippers: What to watch for versus Pelicans
By Ethan Smith
Riding a four game win streak, the LA Clippers have gotten a dose of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on the floor together and it has worked wonders. Here is what to watch for as the duo leads the Clippers into a matchup against the Pelicans on Sunday night.
The LA Clippers have started the season with a common theme, they give it all they have every single game regardless of who is on the floor.
Kawhi Leonard has nursed a knee injury to begin the season and Paul George just returned about a week ago against the Pelicans after his offseason shoulder surgery. Now that the duo has played together twice now, the results have been nothing less than impressive.
The Clippers tangled with the Celtics in arguably the game of the season thus far in a 107-104 win in overtime and it truly put the association on notice on how deep this Clippers team truly is. Leonard did not have his greatest game but the likes of Lou Williams and Patrick Beverley dominated and helped lead the Clippers to victory.
The same was especially true against the Houston Rockets this past Friday. George struggled that time around but Williams once again had a fabulous night on the floor with the help of Montrezl Harrell and the Clippers won another close matchup.
Depth has been the Clippers’ trump card. No other team in the league can say it is as deep as the Clippers currently are. With Williams, George and Leonard on the floor, teams have to decide who to guard and in all retrospects, it really doesn’t matter because one of those three players is bound to be open or create their own shot.
Tonight
The Pelicans will enter this matchup on the back end of back-to-back contests and will face a Clippers team that has the highest scoring bench in the association with 50.9 points per contest. This will likely not fair well for a Pelicans team that has not seen a ton of production out of it’s starting five through 16 games.
Brandon Ingram will be the x-factor here for New Orleans. The 22-year old forward finally seems to have found his footing in a new environment, averaging 26.3 points per game along with 7.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists per contest. All of those stats are of course career highs and have given Jrue Holiday some open looks, but expect Ingram to be shadowed by George and Leonard while Beverley or Harkless likely takes care of Holiday defensively.
The Clippers will have to deal with a top-five offensive team in this matchup but their defense has improved as of late as well as their second chance opportunities offensively as the Clippers currently sit second in rebounds per game and third in offensive rebounds. Getting good looks offensively and getting back against a quick Pelicans team will be imperative for the Clippers to get the victory.
The Pelicans won the only other matchup so far this season 132-127 in Paul George’s debut, but with a Clippers team at full strength this time around, we will see if New Orleans has the same luck. The Pelicans will be without Derrick Favors, Josh Hart, Jahlil Okafor, and Zion Williamson while the Clippers will be without Landry Shamet.
Expect an offensive shootout in Staples Center as the Clippers and Pelicans tip-off at 6 pm PT as the Clippers look for their 12th win of the season.