Well, the Clippers certainly do have a high-octane offense. Paul still can get wherever he wants, and he can hit from midrange whenever he feels its his time. Still, the Pelicans could have handled that if they had slowed the rest of the Clippers. It didn’t turn out that way. The Pelicans would go on little runs where they jammed the middle effectively – but then the Clippers would launch some threes and stretch the lead back out again. The Clippers buried a ridiculous number of threes in the end, finishing 57% for the game from deep. The final result was Clippers 123 to Pelicans 110.
The primary show, however, was Griffin vs Davis, and it didn’t disappoint. Griffin generally got the better of Davis in transition, when he could bump and muscle Anthony under the basket as everyone changed sides. Then, a quick delivery later and Davis couldn’t do much more than foul to stop him. On the opposite side, Davis was facing up Griffin in the Half court and attacking him – successfully for the most part. In the end, Davis finished with 26-11-2 in 38 minutes and Griffin had 22-4 in 33 minutes – though Griffin(or someone on the Clippers) did get under Davis’s skin. There was a little stretch in the third where he was clearly trying a little too hard to punish Griffin and it got him out of his game – and in the fourth, his emotions were flying high enough that he got really demonstrative towards referee Bennett Salvatore and got his first technical foul.
I like the fire though.
Other Observations:
- After opening the second half with a disastrous series of plays, Monty nailed Roberts to the bench the rest of the game and rode Rivers at the point the rest of the way. Rivers paid him back by playing his usual game defense and getting into the teeth of the Clippers defense. He and Evans also started finding Morrow for open looks and that helped considerably.
- Evans was doing his usual masterful job of finding shooters at the end of the drive, but his shots were Uhhhh-gly. Half the time he was just flipping a shot over the shoulder on a reverse – and didn’t even seem to be looking at the basket. Yeah, just the drive itself allowed people to clean up a lot of loose baskets, but he’s got to at least keep focused on the rim more.
- Ajinca had probably his best game as a Pelican, putting up 19 and 12 as he continued his pattern of playing well against big centers with little shooting skill. He still fouled too much and kept being beat on lobs, but he also moved intelligently into space for short jumpers and worked hard on the boards.
- Stiemsma was awful. He’s at his best when solid positioning will allow you to defend well in the post. With all the screen and rolls the Clippers run with Blake and DeAndre, positioning doesn’t help you that much. He couldn’t do anything.
- Gordon got 3 quick fouls and didn’t get a lot of time. His three point shot was on, but he only made one foray into the paint all game – on a transition basket. He’s got to attack to be effective.
- The 20 offensive rebounds for the Pelicans were what kept them in the game. It’s an impressive number.
Dell Demps gave an interview yesterday where he said we should get an update on Jrue and Ryan Anderson this Friday. Let’s hope for good news! Next game is Wednesday!
25 responses to “Clippers bury Pelicans under the Three Ball”
Rivers defense is nice. His offense is slowly coming along too. Withey is also looking good. I noticed him boxing out DeAndre Jordan for a rebound which is something nobody else could do. We say it every week, but once they get some PT, I think they will be good players for the Pels. I’m just hoping that when Jrue gets back, we don’t just forget about Rivers again.
Remember that time we paid Evans 4yrs 44M to essentially be a more atheistic Grevis Vasquez? Haha
Well….I think Monty had a moment of clarity tonight. …Roberts and the Stemsma spent most of the second half on the bench. …Although we lost , it was obvious that you have to match talent against talent,well in our case try. The decision to play Tyreke at the point and sit Roberts was great to see….I truly believe Withey can be the starting center next year ..but it is essential that he gets quality minutes like he got tonight. ….Once this team gets healthy we’ll be a SF and a good veteran locker room guy away from being a playoff team. ….
I’m almost positive that Greg Stiemsma learned basketball by reading some book in the library..
Against Ajinca and Stiemsma, Jordon got zillions of offensive rebounds. I didn’t notice many against Withey. He seems to track his man and keep better contact with him.
The Clippers did this weird thing where they ran screens to get their 3-point shooters open looks. Maybe we should try that for Morrow, Gordon, Babbit, etc. instead of them just standing in one place the whole possession.. Even when you don’t get a wide-open look, just take the damn 3! Let that guy flying at you foul you and shoot 3 free throws, or maybe make a 4-point play. Crawford NEVER put it on the floor to miss a 6-foot floater or throw it out of bounds or take a 22-foot two pointer
I think Rivers could get to open spots almost as well as CP3 does. He
just can’t hit an open jumper. If he works on that in the off-season
he could be somebody..
With all of the attention that is being heaped on him right now, I decided to spend some time last night watching Monty Williams. He actually LOOKED like he was TRYING to coach this Pelicans team: yelling at the refs (there was a lot to yell about), calling timeouts at appropriate times, making key substitutions, talking to his players and assistants. Of course, I couldn’t hear what words were coming out of his mouth. Maybe he was talking gibberish.
So Monty learned from his “mistakes” in the Washington game. Is it time to “Unfire Monty”?
I hate the Clippers and the refs that fall for their flailing and flopping so much. Hopefully, last night’s benchings will carry forward and Monty won’t trot out Roberts for 38 minutes Wednesday.
The word downfall comes to mind.Monty is done after this season.
lol
CP3 is still hated but he loves revenge games against the Pels.
Steven J It’s too bad we don’t give more minutes to guys like that who are playing well and who we want to develop, huh?
Come On Pelican Yeah I noticed that this game too. As other people said, he “learned from his mistakes” from the Wizards game.
“[Gordon’s] got to attack to be effective”
The only problem I have with this is that whenever he drives to the basket, it’s not like he’s really looking to make the layup…he’s always looking for the foul, which he’s not always going to get, despite what he may think because of his contract. Either way, whenever he drives, it ends up in him losing the ball or missing a layup more often than not. (Or I should say, this happens whenever he gets the ball since he doesn’t pass as often as I’d like)
Anyway, I was okay with this game. Roster’s depleted due to injury and we lost to a better team. It’s kinda that simple, and it’s the storyline we’ve heard for a big part of this season. That said, I miss the growing rivalry we had with the Clippers! (If you could call it that). That image of Jason Smith trucking Griffin will be forever stuck in my mind.
Coach Williams is so lucky to have all of us around to point out his “mistakes” so he can “learn” from them.
wilthomas178 Was it “Center for Dummies”?
You’re a communist.
At least the King Cake Baby returned. . .
Monty gave Austin extended minutes for a half in a game against his dad where they had no chance of winning. He also did that last year back when Austin was terrible.
Jason Quigley It’s a nice image too.
I hate losing to the Clippers. I also thought Austin looked good last night, the difference for me is that Austin Rivers is 21, and Brian Roberts is 28. Austin has room to grow at just 21, let’s get him more time on a consistent basis.
Last night I prayed the Pels would pick up Earl Clark, I even blogged that request all to no avail. U guess it, the Knicks signed him today. Del get your act together. They could have released Aminu and picked up a much better all around player.
Revenge game? Hated by who?
Lol
CP3 is still hated by some fans and since his trade the Hornets/Pels have only won once against him.