Hanich Panic: Clippers Embarrass Themselves to New Orleans 135-115
The LA Clippers were feeling great after their dominating 130-104 win against the Golden State Warriors. The Clippers made their presence known to the entire NBA by suppressing the high-power offense of the Warriors. In the Clippers’ game against the New Orleans Pelicans, not only did the Clippers suffer one of their worst losses of the season but they showed serious concerns of consistency.
From the beginning of the game, the LA Clippers had no answer for the New Orleans Pelicans as they were dominated 135-115.
The Clippers were outscored 36-24 in the first quarter and 43-26 in the third quarter. The score was much closer as it seemed as the Pelicans had multiple 30-point leads in the game. Los Angeles played terrible basketball on both ends of the court. There were concerns before the game with Clippers’ starting point guard Patrick Beverley being out for three games with knee soreness. The lack of Beverley’s perimeter defense proved to be an easy situation for the Pelicans to capitalize on by efficiently shoot three-point shots.
In the first quarter, the Pelicans made four of their eight shots from behind the three-point arc. Pelicans point guard Lonzo Ball was able to score efficiently with Beverley out and Reggie Jackson covering him. Ball made three three-pointers in the first quarter. The Pelicans were 46.2% (12-of-26) from behind the three-point arc. Ball was 5-for-8 and Brandon Ingram was 3-for-6 from the three-point arc.
To make matters worse for the Clippers against New Orleans, starting center Serge Ibaka only played in eight minutes before experiencing tightness in his back. The absence of Ibaka in the paint left a huge void for the Pelicans to capitalize. New Orleans accounted for 72 points in the paint as the big men dominated the Clippers’ interior defense. Power forward Zion Williamson scored 27 points shooting 13-of-16 and second-string center Jaxson Hayes scored 17 points shooting 6-of-6.
The entire squad of the Clippers played terrible defense from Jackson to a surprising performance from Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. The Pelicans shot a total field goal percentage of 65.4% (53-of-81). Los Angeles seemed to play lazy defense but even when they were playing aggressive defense, they were not falling in their way. There were given very questionable fouls including the foul of George on Ingram. Overall, the lack of urgency from the players and the lack of efficient adjustment from head coach Ty Lue is a huge negative factor.
In a very confusing season where the Clippers are playing up-and-down basketball, they are trending towards the negative after this frustrating performance. So many excuses are being thrown around too without accountability. This type of performance cannot happen even for a crunched-in second-half season.
The Clippers are set to play the Dallas Mavericks in a back-to-back tonight as well as Wednesday night. Los Angeles currently has a 4-7 record in the last 11 games played. The last time the Clippers played the Mavericks, they suffered an embarrassing 124-73 loss at home without Kawhi Leonard. They will be without Beverley and likely without Ibaka.
The LA Clippers need to find their groove in their three-point shooting game against Dallas. Los Angeles has the top-ranked three-point shooting team in the league. Against the Pelicans, the Clippers were 34.9% (15-of-43) from the three-point arc. Take away the shots made by shooting guards Luke Kennard (3-of-4) and Amir Coffey (3-of-5), the Clippers made 26.5% (9-of-34) of their shots from the three-point arc. They will face a hot-shooting team in the Mavericks against Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis, and Tim Hardaway Jr. Los Angeles will need to display more consistency in shooting the three’s and defending the three’s.
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Hanich Panic meter: 7.5
Dallas has won 11 of their last 14 games played and will be ready for a heated game against the Clippers. If the Clippers cannot rebound in a significant way with either a win or better effort on the court then they will ask some serious questions. The front office feels that this Clippers unit is enough to a great run for an NBA title. With injuries piling up and inconsistencies showing with 10 days before the NBA Trade Deadline, the Clippers might have to make a move to save their title potential.