The Clippers have been falling to fourth place The Big Four only scored 45 points
On February 8, Beijing time, the Clippers played against the Pelicans at home, and the Clippers dug up a 17-point gap in the first quarter, even though the Clippers once chased only 4 points at the beginning of the final quarter, but the Pelicans once again opened a double-digit gap. The Clippers withdrew their core and gave up early, and finally the Clippers lost to the Pelicans 106-117 to end a four-game winning streak, and were overtaken by the Thunder, Timberwolves and Nuggets in a row and fell to fourth in the West. The Clippers' Big Four did not play well, George scored 7 points on 3-of-15 shooting, including 0-of-8 three-pointers, Leonard scored 15 points, Harden made 5 three-pointers, 19 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, and the number of career assists exceeded the 15th milestone in Cheeks' history, Wei Shao scored 4 points, and the Big Four combined only 45 points.
The first two meetings of the season have resulted in one win for each side. In the first meeting, the Clippers lost 106-116 at home, and the Clippers scored 4 double-doubles, including 3 who scored 20+, George 34 points and 8 rebounds, Leonard 20 points and 8 rebounds and Powell 20 points, Harden and Westbrook combined 3 of 16, the two combined 11 points, the Pelicans scored 4 double-doubles, Zion scored 32 points and Ingram 30 points. In the second meeting, the Clippers defeated the Pelicans 111-95 away, and the Clippers scored 4 double-doubles, George scored 24 points, Leonard 19 points and 9 rebounds, Harden only scored 8 points and 13 assists on 2-of-7, and the Pelicans scored double-doubles for 5 people.
The two sides met for the third time of the season, with the Pelicans without Marshall, the Clippers without Diabat, and Zubac out of action for a comeback. The Clippers had a poor first quarter and were suppressed by the Pelicans, who dug a 17-point deficit early in the 19-36 quarter. The Clippers made 8-of-17 shooting and 3-of-8 three-pointers in the first quarter, making 0 free throws and committing 8 turnovers. Harden had eight points and three turnovers on 3-of-3 shooting, including 2-of-2 three-pointers, Leonard scored 5 points on 2-of-2 shooting, and George, Mann and Westbrook combined for 0-of-7 for 0 points. On the other hand, the Pelicans had an excellent crosshairs of 16 of 25, including 4 of 9 three-pointers, Murphy scored 11 points with three three-pointers in less than six minutes, Zion had 0 points and three assists, but McCollum had 7 points, Ingram and Jones both scored 6 points to suppress the Clippers.
The Clippers relied on the play of Harden and Powell to chase down points in the second quarter, and they limited the Pelicans to only 19 points in the second quarter, and the Clippers won by nine points at 28-19 in the first quarter, and the Clippers trailed by eight points at 47-55 at the end of the first half. Harden scored 16 points, 4 rebounds and 4 turnovers in the first two quarters with an efficient 5-of-7 shooting, and surpassed Cheeks in career assists to rise to 15th all-time milestones, George scored 0 points on 0-of-9 in the first two quarters sleepwalking, Leonard scored 7 points and Westbrook scored 2 points. The Pelicans had only Murphy scoring 13 points and a double-double, Zion had two points, six assists and two fouls on 0-of-2 shooting, Jones and McCollum both had nine points, and Ingram and Valanciunas each had eight points.
The Clippers lost by 2 more points in the first quarter at 22-24, and the Clippers trailed the Pelicans by 10 points again at 69-79 at the end of the third quarter. In the first three quarters, the Pelicans scored four double-doubles, Ingram had 14 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, Jones and McCollum both scored 12 points, Murphy scored 13 points, and Zion scored only 8 points on 2-of-8 shooting, but he had already handed out 9 assists. The Clippers scored three double-doubles, Harden had 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 turnovers, Harden scored 0 points in the third quarter, Leonard scored 14 points and Powell scored 10 points, and George scored only 5 points on 2-of-14, including 0-of-8 three-pointers.
The Clippers trailed 74-79 by just five points at the start of the final quarter and continued to trail by only four points at 82-86. It's just that the Pelicans scored on multiple points in a row, and the Clippers were once again stretched out from a double-digit deficit, and after McCollum hit a three-pointer, the Clippers trailed by 16 points with 5:15 left, 89-105. The Clippers then replaced Leonard, George was also not present, and the Clippers also chose to give up in advance, but lost to the Pelicans and lost the first place in the West, and fell directly to the fourth place in the West.
Considering the slight gap between the top four teams in the West, and therefore the ranking between the four teams, there will be many changes in the future, and the battle for the top spot in the West will still be extremely fierce.
(Text/Drunken Sleeping)