New Orleans Pelicans: 3 Things to Watch vs. the Los Angeles Clippers

The New Orleans Pelicans have to play better against the Los Angeles Clippers.

After dropping a very winnable game one to the Utah Jazz, the New Orleans Pelicans look to keep their playoff hopes alive against the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Clippers are likely to be shorthanded with both Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams potentially out, but it won’t matter, as they are talented, deep and feature two of the best all-around players in the league.

Zion Williamson is still on a time restriction for this one and is not expected to play much more than the 15 minutes he played against the Jazz as he tries to ramp himself back into shape.

The Pelicans will need a complete team effort to beat the Clippers, who lost a close one to the Lakers on the first night of the NBA restart.

Stopping the Clippers will be difficult, but the Pelicans also need to avoid some of the problems that have plagued them all year.

Here are three things to look out for in game two against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Turnovers and Free Throws

It feels like I’ve written this a million times before, but turnovers are one of the key stats for the New Orleans Pelicans.

Against Utah, they turned it over 21 times, which led to 20 points for the Jazz. The Pelicans only had 22 assists, far below their average of 26.9 per game.

The Pelicans need to share the ball to be effective in the half court, but they also need to protect it to avoid giving up easy points. It will be hard enough to stop the Clippers without giving them run outs and fast breaks.

Look for turnovers to be a point of emphasis for the Pelicans.

The same could be said of the Clippers, who turned it over 22 times themselves against the Lakers, which led to 14 points.

This game may come down to which team takes better care of the ball.

Another factor will be free throws. The Pels shot just 13 of 18 from the line against Utah, while Utah poured in 24 out of 28. There’s your game.

The Clippers went 21-28 from the line against the Lakers, so this will be another stat to watch.

The New Orleans Pelicans need to get to the line more frequently and make them when they do, particularly the starting backcourt, who shot only two free throws against Utah and missed them both.