Fought back at the end of last game, but the undeniable awfulness of the start meant that it wasn't enough, and we add another L to the column.
Tonight we attempt to make a decent showing on the second night of a rough back to back against the 11-5 LA Clippers, who now have both Paul George and Kawhi Leonard back. Last time we played them, we managed a win behind a huge 36pt, 6stl performance from Jrue Holiday that included 5 steals in the fourth quarter alone, including at least 3 on Paul George.
Here's the injury report:Pelicans Injury Report - 11/24 at LAC
— Pelicans PR (@PelicansPR) November 24, 2019
QUESTIONABLE: Josh Hart (Left Ankle Sprain) and Jahlil Okafor (Left Ankle Sprain)
OUT: Derrick Favors (Left Lower Back Spasms) Darius Miller (Right Achilles Surgery), Zion Williamson (Right Knee Scope) https://t.co/z0jEoif3h4
Pretty much the same as last game then.
I'm not going to go into too much detail for this one: we all know what needs to be done. If we want to win, which we should, we need to come out and put the defensive pressure on early, communicate as a team, move the ball, and pressure the weak spots on the opposing team. What are those weak spots? Simple.
Clips are 29th in fouls, 26th in turnovers, and 21st in assists. They're 2nd in overall rebounds. They're top 10 in defensive and offensive rating, so it's not a case of just exploiting them entirely on one of the floor, you have to be more specific than that and target things: forcing turnovers should be a priority here, which makes it a good thing that we have Jrue Holiday, league leader in deflections. A strong defense can help punish a team with low assist/passing numbers, which means if we can play good communicative defense, we should be able to create a fair amount of events on that side that benefit us.
If we do that, and do our thing on offense, a win is actually achievable here. That said, if we don't win that's perfectly expected too: all I wanna see tonight is effort and hustle. You lose to a great team with great players, that happens, but don't embarrass yourself doing it.
Let's go out there and go for the win. #WBD