The New Orleans Pelicans were outright embarrassed by the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, even if the final scoreline only showed a 126-103 final. The lead topped out at 42 points for the Clippers before a decent fourth quarter from the Pelicans’ bench made the score look respectable.
There was no official turning point in the game because the Clippers came out of the gate with flamethrowers from three-point range. Los Angeles hit eight of their first nine attempts from range, highlighted by Paul George’s 3-of-3 shooting from deep to start.
New Orleans made a brief stand trying to make it a competitive game in the early part of the second period before a 30-6 run from the Clippers to close the half ended any hopes of a win.
While three plays can’t fully encompass everything that went wrong for the Pelicans, here’s a look at three plays that highlight some of the errors.
Before diving into everything that went wrong, first a look at something that went right. This play came after the onslaught from the Clippers to open the game. The Pelicans slowly worked their way back into the game before this sequence.
This sequence sees Lonzo Ball use a ball screen from Derrick Favors after clearing out that side of the floor. His defender goes under the screen, as many do against him, and he calmly steps back and knocks down the three.
Ball screens have been a far more common action for Ball this season than last and have comprised more of his offensive possessions. He has not been particularly efficient with those possessions but it shows a glaring area he needs to improve.
Against Utah, Ball had a pair of missed open shots coming off screens late in the game. Teams that play drop coverage leave plenty of opportunities to punish them either in the mid-range or from three depending on how the defender handles the screen.
Specific to Ball, on jumpers coming off of screens this year, he’s shooting just 32.6% from the field, ranking him in the 36th percentile. Navigating pick and roll situations is a particularly glaring weakness for Ball and one that should be a focus of his moving forward.
By the time Zion Williamson checked in to start the second period, the Pelicans already were on thin ice. New Orleans did, though, make a run with him in the game and pulled the lead back to nearly single digits before it was blown open again.
That run, though, was done largely without scoring contributions from Williamson. After looking like he hadn’t missed a beat against Utah, the opposite was true against the Clippers.
Williamson struggled to finish at the rim on Saturday. On a trio of occasions, he got uncontested looks at the rim and couldn’t convert. In this play, the Pelicans ran a little weave action that ends with a dribble handoff to Williamson who can attack the rim at full speed. JaMychal Green does his best but Williamson’s sidestep creates space and he elevates at the rim but misses.
After Thursday’s game against Utah, Williamson talked about needing to get a rhythm and flow to his game back. While that didn’t look to be the case against the Jazz, Williamson looked like a man who had missed two weeks against the Clippers on Saturday.
Turnovers.
It’s been the biggest talking point around the Pelicans through two games. The team has committed 39 turnovers leading to 54 points combined in the two games so far.
On Saturday, it wasn’t just that the team was turning the ball over but that they were live-ball turnovers. Seven of the Pelicans’ 12 first-half turnovers were live-ball turnovers and the Clippers scored on EVERY SINGLE ONE of them. In total, it amounted to 16 points off those seven turnovers alone.
Live-ball turnovers are particularly costly for a number of reasons. First and most obviously, it’s a direct trade from a potential scoring opportunity for one team and handing it to another. But secondly, as was the case often on Saturday, the Clippers turned those giveaways into fastbreak opportunities.
in the sequence above, the Clippers are able to quickly get downcourt after the turnover and turn it into a 2-on-1 break. Patrick Beverley finds Marcus Morris Sr. for an easy layup with the defense trying to get back.
More than just avoiding turnovers, the team needs to avoid the live ball ones specifically.
