LA Clippers look to strengthen play-off plans as they meet struggling New Orleans Pelicans

NEW ORLEANS – The Los Angeles Clippers will look to strengthen their National Basketball Association (NBA) post-season position when they visit the New Orleans Pelicans on March 11 (March 12, Singapore time).

The Clippers, who lost six of their first seven games after the All-Star break, completed a sweep of a three-game homestand when they beat the Sacramento Kings 111-110 in overtime on March 9.

As the current No. 8 seeds in the Western Conference and several games ahead of the No. 11 Phoenix Suns, they are in good shape to make the play-in tournament and are within striking distance of the top-six spots.

“We needed the (Sacramento) win,” centre Ivica Zubac said. “We were down seven with two minutes to go and came back, go to overtime, burning out, and finish like that, win like that – we needed it. We needed some positivity.”

The manner of their victory should give them hope against the Pelicans.

The Clippers used a 7-0 run in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter to force the extra period.

Trailing by one point in overtime, Kawhi Leonard then drove into the lane and tossed up a shot that bounced around the rim before trickling through the net to produce the game’s 23rd lead change as time expired.

It proved that the Clippers had the will to fight till the end in a roller-coaster game.

“We need these wins down the stretch,” Leonard said. “I think this will help us be a better team moving forward.”

During the winning streak, James Harden and Leonard have played to their level as perennial All-Stars.

In particular, Harden had 50 points in a 123-115 victory over the Detroit Pistons to start the homestand and he narrowly missed a triple-double against the Kings, finishing with 29 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds.

Meanwhile, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue was a last-minute scratch against Sacramento because of back pain and was replaced by assistant Brian Shaw. As the Los Angeles side begin a three-game road trip, the team have yet to announce when Lue is expected to return to the bench.

New Orleans’ latest game was also decided at the final buzzer, albeit being at the losing end.

The Pelicans put up two potential game-tying three-pointers during the final possession, but Jose Alvarado and Kelly Olynyk both missed as the visiting Memphis Grizzlies escaped with a 107-104 victory on March 9.

New Orleans’ leading scorer Zion Williamson (24.5 points per game) and C.J. McCollum (21.4) sat out to rest during the second game of a back-to-back. But even in their absence, the team were much more competitive than they were during a 146-117 loss at the Houston Rockets the previous night.

“I loved our resiliency and our ability to stick together,” coach Willie Green said after the Pelicans fought back and took the Grizzlies to the wire.

“After coming off a tough loss, I loved our approach to this game.”

That should bode well for their game against the Clippers, as the absence of Williamson and McCollum also offered expanded opportunities for younger players.

Karlo Matkovic (13 points, 11 rebounds), Antonio Reeves (11 points) and Jordan Hawkins (12) were among the key contributors in support of Trey Murphy III’s 27 points.

“All of those young guys are getting better,” Green added. “Those are the steps that we want to take with this young group.”

Meanwhile, in NBA action on March 10, Nikola Jokic delivered a dominant 35-point performance as the Denver Nuggets bounced back to topple the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder 140-127.

Jamal Murray backed Jokic with 34 points as the Nuggets outscored Oklahoma City 73-54 in the second half, inflicting the heaviest points total conceded by the Thunder this season.

“We came out ready to play,” Murray said afterwards. “We knew we were going to have to play 48 minutes of defence, so we wanted to have the right mindset.

“It’s always tough to play here – they’ve got a great crowd and a great team.” REUTERS, AFP