L.A. Clippers' fourth-quarter surge leads them over Pelicans

The L.A. Clippers opened their six-game road trip with a win over the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans behind big performances from Kawhi Leonard and Lou Williams.

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

The L.A. Clippers began their six-game Grammy road trip Saturday afternoon with a 133-130 win against the New Orleans Pelicans — but it wasn't always pretty.

L.A. gave up an astonishing 80 points in the first two quarters, which tied New Orleans' franchise record for points in the first half. Former Los Angeles Lakers Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram each got off to great starts (Ball finished with a triple-double), but the Pelicans' offensive attack was balanced overall. In total, six Pelicans scored in double-figures.

To some degree, that was to be expected. The Pelicans average the seventh-most points per game this season, and the Clippers were without defensive studs in Paul George and Moe Harkless. Still, the effort was largely inexcusable. In particular, Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell contributed to the poor defensive showing. Williams consistently went under screens and Harrell offered little in terms of rebounding and rim protection.

Fortunately, the Clippers came out of the locker room playing much better basketball.

L.A. held New Orleans to 30 points in the third quarter and 20 in the fourth — almost the same number of points they scored in the second quarter alone. The Clippers, on the other hand, were able to post 31 points in the final frame, outscoring New Orleans by 11 when it mattered most.

To be expected, Kawhi Leonard was brilliant on defense. He played Ingram almost perfectly, limiting him to just seven second-half points, and accumulated five steals over the course of the game. 

But for as good as Leonard was on defense, he was even better on offense. The two-way star continued his hot streak and finished with 39 points, six rebounds and six assists on 53.6 percent shooting from the floor and 80 percent from the free-throw line.

It was Leonard's fifth consecutive game scoring at least 30 points, and just the third time this season he's scored 39 or more. One of the other occurrences was in Tuesday's win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, when he posted a season-high 43 in only 29 minutes.

Leonard wasn't the only member of the team to keep up their hot streak. Williams had a monster game of his own, recording 32 points, four rebounds and five assists in 31 minutes. He connected on 7-of-16 attempts overall and channeled his inner-James Harden as he racked up a season-high 15 free-throw attempts. 

Since Williams' son Syx was born on New Year's Eve, he's averaging 24.0 points, 5.9 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game. 

The win moved the Clippers to 11-9 on the road and 30-13 overall. Per the team's PR, 43 games are the second-fewest amount it's taken for the Clippers to hit 30 wins in a given season, and the fewest in the Doc Rivers era. 

Things won't get any easier for the Clippers from here out on this road trip, as they're set to take on the Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers in the proceeding games. L.A. can't have another game defensively like the one they had today against any of those teams if they hope to finish the trip with a positive record.

Luckily, George is expected to return during the trip, which means we should be seeing an improved two-way performance from the Clippers very soon.