New Orleans Pelicans: Instant Reactions after the 126-103 Loss to the Clippers

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Los Angles Clippers: Instant Reactions

So Many 3-Pointers

It only takes a cursory glance at the scorecard to see the problem with this game.

The Clippers made an whopping 25 shots from long-range out of 47 attempts for 53.2 percent. I am no expert but I can promise you that your team will never win a game if they allow those kinds of numbers.

The Pelicans made just nine of their own and shot 30 percent from long-range overall.

It wasn’t just that the Clippers were making tons of three’s, it’s that most of them were effortless, uncontested shots that looked more like warmups than a real game.

The Pelicans weren’t closing out, going over screens (or fighting through them at all) or even getting a hand in the face of the Clippers, especially in the first half, when the Clips made 16 from behind the arc.

The Pelicans showed a little more life in the second half but by then the game was well over.

In the first game they couldn’t stop anyone in the paint, but in this one, they were undone by the long ball.

It’s not an overreaction to say that the Pels need defenders in the offseason if they want to have any chance to join the elite of the Western Conference.