Clippers start hot, then fade behind lackluster shooting in loss to Pelicans

New Orleans had not played well at home.

It had not played well in third quarters.

It had not played good defense.

It had not played its starting lineup more than a single minute this season, at all.

It trailed by 20 only 14 minutes into Friday night.

None of it kept the Pelicans from outlasting the Clippers in a stunning 94-81 win at Smoothie King Arena that marked only the second home win of the season for New Orleans and third win overall.

Paul George scored 19 points, making eight of his 26 shots and three of his 14 three-pointers, and Nicolas Batum scored 12 in his first game back in the lineup after Achilles’ tendon soreness limited him to 14 minutes Tuesday and sidelined him altogether Thursday.

The Clippers opened a double-digit lead within 10 minutes and led by 20 only four minutes later. At that point, the Clippers’ four-man bench had outscored the entire Pelicans roster. New Orleans (3-14) managed only six points in the paint — one night after allowing 74 in Memphis — while the Clippers scored 24 there.

With New Orleans listless and the Clippers appearing nothing like a team that had lost only 24 hours earlier, about the only moment of concern was when starting center Ivica Zubac was hit in the nose by the right hand of Herbert Jones while going for a rebound with four minutes to go in the first quarter, a smack that eventually forced Zubac to go to the locker room with both nostrils plugged with bloody gauze. He returned in the second quarter, however, and provided pinpoint passing as the pick-and-roll roll man.

But amid questionable shot selection, the starters couldn’t hold their advantage and a tap-in by Jonas Valanciunas midway through the third quarter gave the Pelicans their first lead since 6-4.

The Clippers scored only 26 points in the second half, with coach Tyronn Lue breaking from his custom of keeping one of either guard Reggie Jackson or Eric Bledsoe on the court at all times to play backcourts of Terance Mann and Luke Kennard.

The loss dropped the Clippers to 9-7.