Clippers snap losing streak: that is the clearest result from Sunday night at Intuit Dome. The Los Angeles Clippers beat the New Orleans Pelicans 139-123, ending a seven-game slide and improving to 2-7. Darius Garland finished with 24 points and 10 assists. Brook Lopez scored 20 with seven rebounds. The bench supplied a major share of the offense, and the Clippers now take that first winning feeling on the road. They visit the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday at 6 p.m. PST.
Infanity TV’s current postgame session with coach Tyronn Lue, above, is built around his remark that the Clippers “got our mojo back.” The quote describes the mood after a long skid. It is not a promise about Tuesday in Phoenix.
A complete offensive night, not a late escape
The teams were tied 28-28 after the first quarter. Los Angeles then outscored New Orleans 39-32 in the second, matched a 35-point third quarter and closed 37-28 in the fourth. The official totals show the Clippers shooting 55 percent from the field and 42 percent from three, with 34 assists against 11 turnovers. They scored 60 points in the paint. New Orleans shot 51 percent and 34 percent from three, with 23 assists and 16 turnovers, and had 52 points in the paint.
That profile is different from the Clippers’ earlier close losses. They did not need a final possession to escape. They built a lead after a tied first quarter and kept scoring. The Pelicans’ official wrap noted that Los Angeles cleared 100 points before the end of the third quarter and had been averaging only 109.1 points through its first eight games. Sunday was a sharp break from that offensive baseline, not a typical 109-point night that happened to land on the right side of the ledger.
The supporting pieces actually arrived
Rui Hachimura scored 14 points. Kris Dunn had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists. Derrick Jones Jr. added eight points. Those starters kept the floor balanced, but the reserves were the difference in volume. Gradey Dick scored 15 points in 17 minutes, including 2-for-2 from three. Keaton Wagler had 15 points and four assists in 18 minutes. Baba Miller finished with 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in 20 minutes. Kobe Sanders scored eight. Max Strus added seven.
The Pelicans’ recap pointed to a large Clippers edge in bench scoring and specifically named Dick, Wagler and Miller. Those individual lines are in the official box and do not require an extra interpretation. They also matter for Tuesday, because a road game in Phoenix will test whether that extra production was a one-night explosion or a usable rotation.
New Orleans still had scoring
This was not a game in which the opponent went cold. Trey Murphy III led New Orleans with 26 points and seven rebounds. Jeremiah Fears and Zion Williamson scored 25 apiece. Saddiq Bey added 13 off the bench, and Derik Queen had eight points and five rebounds. Yves Missi remained out with the left-knee injury listed on earlier official reports.
New Orleans entered 4-5 and left 4-6. The visitors’ own reporting described Sunday as a rare convincing loss after several tight defeats. That context cuts both ways. The Clippers earned a clear win, but they also caught a Pelicans team on the front end of a California back-to-back, with Golden State next.
The injury list still shapes Tuesday
The NBA’s official Tuesday morning injury report, labeled 8 a.m. ET, lists Bradley Beal out for right-knee injury management, Brandon Ingram out following right-heel surgery, Jordan Miller out following left rotator-cuff surgery and Yanic Konan Niederhauser out following right Lisfranc surgery. Cam Christie is questionable with a right-ankle sprain. Nick Martinelli is questionable as a two-way player. Christie appeared briefly Sunday, so the new questionable tag is a change to watch rather than a simple carryover from an unused player.
Ingram’s public recovery language has mixed heel and Achilles descriptions. The official Tuesday report uses right-heel surgery. Some injury feeds still say Achilles. Friday’s earlier reporting explained that a partial Achilles tear was found during the heel procedure. None of that changes the verified Sunday-Monday fact: he did not play against New Orleans, and he is listed out for Phoenix on the morning report. No debut date is confirmed here.
Phoenix had not submitted its official report in that same document. An automated ESPN preview lists Mark Williams out with a shoulder injury and Jordan Goodwin out with a calf injury. Those Suns designations remain unofficial until the league report records a submission. The Clippers should be prepared for a typical Phoenix home roster, not for absences that are not yet official.
A road test, not a celebration tour
Los Angeles is 0-4 on the road and 2-3 at home after Sunday. Ending the skid at Intuit Dome does not automatically repair the road record. The Suns are 3-6. Tip-off is 6 p.m. PST at Mortgage Matchup Center. The assignment is straightforward: keep the ball moving, protect it better than in the earlier losing streak and see whether the bench scoring travels.
Lue’s postgame message was that the group found itself again. The useful standard for Tuesday is more specific. Can Garland create without the turnover problems that defined the skid? Can Lopez and the available bigs finish possessions? Can Dick, Wagler and Miller again give the starters a second wave? Those are the questions a 139-point night still has to answer on the road. A second win would change the tone of the week. A sloppy loss would make Sunday look like an isolated offensive outburst rather than the start of a more stable stretch.
Notes and conflicts
- Ingram. Official report: right-heel surgery. Other feeds: Achilles. The Friday explanation is noted above; he remains out.
- Christie. He played two minutes Sunday and is questionable Tuesday with a right-ankle sprain.
- Suns injuries. Not yet submitted on the official Tuesday morning report. Preview listings are unconfirmed.
- Bench margin. Individual reserve lines are taken from the official box. Broader bench-point comparisons in secondary recaps are not required to understand Sunday’s result.
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