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 With three-time All-Star forward Anthony Davis headed toward
season-ending knee and shoulder surgery, the Pelicans suited up just
nine players Sunday night against the Los Angeles Clippers, and one
of them, reserve center Alexis Ajinca, hadn't played in weeks due to
a fractured sternum.
But in a result that should be considered cautionary brochure
material for Gamblers Anonymous, the Pelicans got double-figure
scoring from six players, including 22 from Jrue Holiday, to upset
the playoff-bound Clippers 109-105 at the Smoothie King Center.
"It was just that a lot of people were going to have to step up
again," said Holiday, who had eight assists and scored six points in
the final four minutes to make up for the absence of Davis and
forward Ryan Anderson, who missed the game with a double groin
strain. "It's just like coach said, 'It's like the Alamo,' even
though I'm not even sure who won there. They might have 14 healthy
guys, but as long as we have five guys on the court, ready to play,
we always give ourselves a chance to win."
For the record, the Mexicans won the Battle of the Alamo against a
small but courageous band of Texans but eventually lost the war.
That's a history lesson Gentry would like to repeat.
 "We don't ever talk about the guys that are not there, we talk about
the guys that are there," Gentry said. "We talked about just walking
out on the floor and competing at the very highest level that we
can."
Gentry reiterated the decision to shut down Davis, the Pelicans'
leading scorer and rebounder, who needs surgery to repair his left
knee and a torn left labrum, was an easy one to make.
"First of all, it was the protect him," Gentry said. "Secondly, it
was for the betterment of the franchise. This gives him an
opportunity to get everything corrected and then really to be ready
for training camp next year and be fully healthy."
The Pelicans led 102-88 with 2:18 left when Holiday drove to the
basket and hit a scoop shot. But the Clippers went on a 17-4 run --
highlighted by 3-pointers from J.J. Redick, Chris Paul and Jamal
Crawford -- to draw within 106-105 with 15 seconds left.
Luke Babbitt made a pair of foul shots for the Pelicans, making it
108-105, then Clippers guard Austin Rivers missed a potential
game-tying 3-pointer from the left wing with one second remaining.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers, whose team has lost four of five, said
Los Angeles was done in by a 16-point third quarter in which it made
just four of 18 shots (22.2 percent). For the game, the Clippers
made just 10 of 39 3-point attempts (25.6 percent).
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"We just couldn't make a shot," said Rivers, whose team was playing
in a rare back-to-back road game, with the second-game tipoff coming
just 22 hours after the previous night's game. "We played pretty
good D, but I thought we settled a lot tonight. In the third quarter
I said, 'You guys, we played last night and we are getting open
shots, we're getting threes. (But) can we please drive the
basketball?'"
Every Pelicans starter scored in double figures. In addition to
Holiday, the Pelicans were also led by Dante Cunningham (19 points),
Tim Frazier (17), Omer Asik (15), Toney Douglas (14) and Babbitt
(12). Asik also added 14 rebounds.
The Clippers (43-26) were led by Paul and Redick, who scored 24
points each. Paul said his team couldn't blame the loss on fatigue.
"There are no excuses," Paul said. "At the end of the day, (the
media) have been harping about how good we've been in back-to-backs.
How are we going to say it was fatigue tonight? We lost, no excuses.
We didn't defend well enough. We waited too long to put our
footprint on the game."
The Pelicans have had trouble outrebounding opponents, but they beat
the Clippers 54-35 on the boards and held a 16-4 edge in
second-chance points. The Pelicans also made 32 of 40 free throws,
which compensated for 23 turnovers, nine of which came in the fourth
quarter.
NOTES: Clippers coach Doc Rivers commiserated with New Orleans coach
Alvin Gentry for having to endure an injury-plagued season. Gentry's
latest complication was having to shelve PF Anthony Davis for the
final 14 games of the season. Davis will have surgery for knee and
shoulder injuries. "(Davis) probably could play, obviously, but
you've got to look for his future," Rivers said. "It's been an awful
year for injuries. I don't know if I've seen one team go through
injuries like this through the year." ... Rivers still was hot over
what he called a lack of effort by the Clippers in a 113-102 road
loss at Memphis on Saturday. "It always matters to me how we play,"
Rivers said. "When we don't perform well because we don't have the
focus, then I'm not happy." ... The Pelicans used their 34th
different starting lineup this season.
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