Pelicans let one slip away against Clippers

NEW ORLEANS – The Los Angeles Clippers will get the credit for Saturday afternoon’s 133-130 loss by the New Orleans Pelicans, but the home team was the one that beat themselves at the Smoothie King Center.

That much is clear after watching New Orleans make careless turnovers and miss shot after shot from beyond the three point line and at the free throw line during the game’s final 24 minutes.

After scoring a franchise record-tying 80 points against the Clippers in the first half, the Pelicans were unable to replicate anything close to that in the second half, managing only 50 points while making only 18 of their 42 field goal attempts.

Maybe a month ago a close loss to a top-tier team would have been met with some sense of accomplishment. But we know better now. The Pelicans have wins over Denver (2), Houston, Indiana, Utah, and the Clippers this season. They had everyone available to them except for Zion Williamson and Jrue Holiday.

They let this one get away.

“I don’t believe in moral victories,” said Lonzo Ball. “I thought we should have won the game, but obviously that didn’t happen tonight.”

Ball’s stat line was a great metaphorical representation of what happened during the game.

He picked up his third triple-double of the season, scoring 18 points, dishing out 11 assists, and grabbing 10 rebounds.

And, he also committed six of the Pelicans’ 21 turnovers, missed his only free throw attempt, and went 2-of-9 from the floor in the second half.

This was the fifth time this season that New Orleans has turned it over at least 20 times, and they’ve lost four of those games.

After Alvin Gentry praised his team before the game for their resilience in beating back Detroit and Utah in overtime, he watched as they folded under pressure Saturday.

The plays were there to be made. The Pelicans just didn’t make them.

“We probably turned the ball over a couple of times and let a rebound get away, and they just went and made baskets,” said Derrick Favors, who finished with 22 points (10-for-10 shooting) and 11 boards in 28 minutes. “So, I think it was more maybe…I don’t want to say mental, but I think it was more maybe letting like little things take us out the game. We had a couple of turnovers and missed shots, so I think that took us out the game.”

Over the previous 14 games we hadn’t seen the kinds of mistakes that the Pelicans made today. That’s the standard they’ve set for themselves after climbing up off of the mat following a 13-game losing streak.

One month ago, we would have expected that outcome. Today, we are disappointed by it.

Youth and injuries are no longer reasons, they are excuses.

Today, the New Orleans Pelicans lost a game they should have won.

It was their fault.

They are past the point where fans can look at losses simply as lessons. At some point the test will arrive. The Pelicans weren’t urgent today. They didn’t play like this was the most important game on the schedule.

They had best learn their lesson quickly, with resurgent Memphis on Monday and a Spurs team that knocked off Milwaukee, Boston, and Toronto on the road last week.

Yes, Zion is coming. But right now, the Pelicans have to get better at the little things before big things can happen.