The NBA's 82-game schedule allows for contending teams to iron out rotational wrinkles while front offices try to find the missing piece to a championship team. Strengths are sharpened; weaknesses get exposed. Well, head coach Willie Green and the New Orleans Pelicans got a wakeup call unlike any other this season in a 111-95 home loss to the LA Clippers.
The loss to the Clippers was not a letdown like the NBA In-Season Tournament semifinal loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. It was also not a heartbreaker like those three clutch meltdowns at home two weeks ago versus the Memphis Grizzlies (twice!) and Houston Rockets.
No, this was a thorough dismantling by a Clippers squad dealing with some of the same negative injury narratives but possessing far more experience than the Pelicans. LA had far more physicality to their game as well.
“(The Clippers) are handsy. They are a handsy physical defensive team. If we don't play with force (on) slip screens, get into our offense quickly and we want to play isolation basketball, (we knew) that could be difficult against this type of team,” Green admitted. “You've got to move them side to side. Got to shot fake, drive, kick, and then the dominoes will fall. Tonight, we did not do a good enough job at that.”
Herb Jones came to the same conclusions as Green after the game.
“I mean, they have really talented guys,” Jones agreed. “Everybody knows that. So, it was tough, especially making shots. It’s tougher to defend, they attacked a lot of the switches, and I think we did the best we could supporting our guys that were on the ball. They just made a ton of shots.”
The Clippers started to create some separation midway through the second quarter. Jose Alvarado, Brandon Ingram, Dyson Daniels, Jonas Valanciunas and Jones were on the court at the time. Instead of calling a timeout with LA on a 13-2 run, the third-year head coach went with a gut decision to not call for a break in the action.
“I think sometimes it is a feel thing,” Green explained. “There are times you take a time-out to get reorganized. With the way we've been playing lately, I wanted to give our group a chance to play with some flow and get some rhythm getting up and down the floor court and not call a time-out to let their half-court defense get set. None of that stuff worked.”
Green is still working out the rotations as well. Trey Murphy III is on a minutes restriction and two-way player Matt Ryan is still out, but Green is working with a relatively healthy and fully available roster. Stay tuned for any updates to Zion Williamson's status, though, considering the All-Star had to call it an early night against the LA Clippers.
Pelicans pressured into one-dimensional offense
The Pelicans will have to learn how to deal with different kinds of pressure in big playoff moments. The game against the Clippers was as close to NBA playoff intensity as Zion Williamson has seen this side of Las Vegas. Ty Lue's team swarmed Brandon Ingram and let Williamson work the paint while denying opportunities for the Pelicans' supporting cast. It was a poison pill New Orleans swallowed, and the offense went silent soon after. LA won the second quarter 30-15 and never lost control.
Worse, the Pelicans like to runtin transition but had only 11 fast break points in 48 minutes. So what caused the problems?
“They were physical. They were aggressive. They had their hands on us,” Green admitted. “They mixed up their defensive coverages. They blitzed some pick and rolls. They switched some pick and rolls on us, and it just took us out of what we wanted to do and we were a step slow tonight.”
More importantly, how are those issues fixed before the trade deadline? A table-setting point guard and extra rim protector seem the most pressing needs for the Pelicans. Either way, they'll live and learn to get through wins and losses without much swing in emotion, but not in January. That's reserved for teams playing in June.
“It’s definitely a teaching moment. You lose a game and you want to see what you did well and see what you need to improve on,” Green said. “At the end of the day, we don’t want to be an emotional team and hang our hats with every single win and loss. [We want to] stay the course, and tonight they were a better team.”
Again, the even-keeled Jones echoed his coach in the postgame press conference.
“I just think it was one of those nights tonight and we were on the bad end of it. Like I said, we just have to go back and watch film and get better.”
The Pelicans got clipped but it is not a cause for concern. It was a call to action, though, with only a few weeks before the trade deadline. Green's group has responded well to adversity so far this season, reeling off winning streaks after falling short in big moments. Now it's up to the front office to make their move to shore up a dangerous playoff team.
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