At the end of the suspense, Brandon Ingram sends the Pelicans to the playoffs

Qualifying for the playoffs with only 36 wins is possible! The Pelicans took full advantage of the “play-in” system to qualify after their victory against the Spurs, then that of this night on the floor of the Clippers who, as we recall, had to do without Paul George. Despite the latter’s absence, this part was undecided until the end and could have gone the other way. It only took a few seconds of play to realize that one player was more on a mission than the others: Brandon Ingram. The elegant Pelicans winger quickly found his comfort zone at mid-range without any opposing player managing to disturb his gestures. After twelve minutes, he already had 14 points at 7/8 on shots and his team was leading quite quietly (22-30). The Clippers struggled to hold on to the score in the following minutes, due to the activity of the bench opposite, in particular a wild Larry Nance Jr. under the circle, almost in double-double from the break. By completely abandoning the 3-point shot but by scoring with ease in the key or near it, the New Orleans team offered itself its most substantial lead: +16 (29-45). Ingram-Nance, former Lakers make the difference Clumsy so far, Reggie Jackson has started to line up the mid-range jumpers too to help Marcus Morris, the Clippers’ first threat, while Norman Powell struggled to do forget Paul George. By better challenging Brandon Ingram’s shots, the Clippers, despite their clumsiness (4/21 from afar at the break…), thus ended on a better note (46-56). This trend was confirmed spectacularly in a third quarter of total domination by the locals. The Californians seriously muzzled in defense – with a really huge Nicolas Batum in this sector – the two strong men opposite (Ingram and McCollum), and the entire attack of the Pels, to spin in transition. Robert Covington or Norman Powell took advantage of it while Marcus Morris continued his great evening, and Reggie Jackson confirmed his rise in power by hurting CJ McCollum in defense. Los Angeles thus passed an incredible 25-2 to reverse the game and lead by ten points before the last quarter (84-74). End clap for the Pelicans? Not at all. CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram both found rhythm and skill to carry NOLA in a 14-1 and thus equalize (88-88). With a Trey Murphy inspired from afar, the Pelicans even took three possessions ahead (94-101) two minutes from the end. The Clippers still found a way to respond to regain possession before letting the game be decided on free throws. There, the two teams shone a lot with their clumsiness. With 20 seconds remaining and only three points ahead, Larry Nance Jr. missed two in a row then Norman Powell settled for 1/2. On the next possession, the Clippers took two Brandon Ingram who found Jonas Valanciunas, alone under the circle, to register the final basket synonymous with qualification. THINGS TO REMEMBER – Tyronn Lue’s “small ball”. His choice to do without Ivica Zubac, despite his offensive rebound activity, after going to the locker room changed the face of the game. By aligning Robert Covington in place of the pivot, the Clippers coach offered himself a more mobile five and able to “switch” on everything. This adjustment paid off as it coincided with the Clippers’ huge third quarter (38-18) against the Pelicans not decided to serve Jonas Valanciunas in the position, despite favorable duels in size. He also finally returned to his bench to appreciate Larry Nance Jr. doing the job. – Willie Green’s speech. While his team was still in trouble at the start of the fourth quarter, the Pelicans coach had strong and passionate words to his players during a time-out. “It’s for this kind of moment that we play, we worked hard for that. We’re not going to let go. You have to fight, you have to fight! “, he repeated with intensity. His message got through as the Pelicans came back to score within minutes. TOPS/FLOPS ✅ Brandon Ingram. The winger started his game with 18 points at 9/10 on shots before experiencing a big drop in speed in the third quarter. Taken two and very well held by Nicolas Batum, he however recovered in the final period by passing his defender several times to go dunk. Result: a very solid and complete game without any 3-point attempt. ✅ Larry Nance Jr. First double-double of the season and what a double-double for the substitute who boosted the Pelicans racquet to compensate for Jonas Valanciunas’ non-game. Despite two missed free throws at the very end, he was decisive in the last quarter with his rebound activity. ✅ Trey Murphy III. Without making much noise, the rookie finished with the most positive impact on the score of the game, by far. His four award-winning baskets sent after the break, most of the time while open, did the Pelicans a lot of good. ✅ Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris. While the other members of the Clippers’ five were less challenged or inspired on offense, both men held the house in Paul George’s absence. However, they suffered a lot behind the 3-point line (6/20 between them…). ⛔ The address to free throws. Seeing two teams finish with less than 10 award-winning baskets has become rare in today’s league. See two teams shoot less than 65% success in free throws, with 12 points lost on each side, even more. THE CLIPPERS SUITE (42-40): holidays, like their neighbors. Pelicans (36-46): Game 1 against the Suns, Sunday. Clippers / 101 Shots Rebounds Players Min Shots 3pts LF O D T Pd Fte Int Bp Ct +/- Pts Eval N. Batum 33 1/7 0/5 0/0 1 9 10 1 5 2 0 0 +11 2 9 M. Morris Sr 43 9/20 4/11 5/7 3 6 9 5 1 0 1 0 +7 27 27 I. Zubac 13 3/5 0/0 2/4 4 0 4 1 2 0 0 0 -4 8 9 R. Jackson 46 9/22 2/9 7/9 0 7 7 8 2 2 2 1 +3 27 28 T. Mann 37 2/5 0/2 0/0 3 4 7 4 2 1 1 1 -9 4 13 R. Covington 35 4/7 2/4 4/5 0 3 3 1 5 1 0 0 -1 14 15 N. Powell 24 6/16 1/4 4/7 0 4 4 0 2 1 2 1 -8 17 8 I. Hartenstein 6 1/1 0/0 0/0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 -10 2 3 A. Coffey 4 0/2 0/1 0/2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 -9 0 -5 Total 35/85 9/36 22/34 12 33 45 20 21 7 7 3 101 Pelicans / 105 Shots Rebounds Players Min Shots 3pts LF O D T Pd Fte Int Bp Ct +/- Pts Eval B. Ingram 43 14/21 0/0 2 /4 0 6 6 6 2 0 2 0 +3 30 31 H. Jones 33 2/6 1/3 2/2 1 6 7 1 5 0 1 1 -7 7 11 J. Valanciunas 25 3/9 0/2 2 /4 5 4 9 0 3 0 1 0 -12 8 8 J. Hayes 15 2/3 0/0 0/1 0 3 3 1 3 1 0 0 -8 4 7 C. McCollum 42 9/24 1/7 0 /2 0 2 2 3 3 0 2 1 -1 19 6 L. Nance Jr. 24 8/7 0/0 0/2 7 9 16 4 5 1 0 1 +13 14 33 T. Snell 4 0/1 0/1 0/0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 -9 0 -1 N. Marshall 10 0/1 0/1 3/6 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 -2 3 0 D. Graham 4 1/3 0/1 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 +5 2 0 J. Alvarado 17 1/5 0/1 2/2 3 1 4 3 3 0 1 0 +12 4 6 T. Murphy III 24 4/7 4/6 2/2 1 4 5 2 0 0 0 0 +26 14 18 Total 43/88 6/22 13/25 17 37 54 20 26 2 8 3 105