The Clippers' decline in the rankings has attracted attention, the Big Four have not performed well, and the team is facing a test!
On February 8, Beijing time, the Clippers were tied by 17 points in the first quarter, and although they only scored four points in the final minute, they still extended their lead in the score. The Clippers conceded early defeat, and in the end, the Clippers defeated the Pelicans 106-117, ending their four-game victory, and they are in fourth place in the East led by the Thunder, Timberwolves, and Nuggets. George had 7 points on 3-of-15 shooting, 0-pointers, Leonard made 15 of 15 shots, Harden made 5 3-pointers, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and surpassed his previous 15 assists, and Wilhelm scored 4 points, 4 three-pointers, and 4 3-pointers.
Both teams have emerged victorious in the first two rounds of the season. George had 34 points and eight rebounds, Leonard had 20 points and eight rebounds, Powell had 20 points, Harden was 3 of 16, Wei Shao was 3 of 16, two were 11 points, Pelicans had a triple-double, Zion had 32 points, and Ingram was 33. In Game 2, the Clippers won 111-95 over the Pelicans, when the Clippers had four players in double figures, with George scoring 24 points and Leonard scoring 19 points and nine rebounds, while Harden was 2-of-7 with only eight points and 13 assists, while the Pelicans had five players scoring more than double digits.
This is their third matchup of the season, with the Pelicans without Marshall, the Clippers without Diabat, and Zubac returning from a suspension. In the first quarter of the game, the Clippers were passive in the game, and they led their opponents by 19 points with a score of 19:36. In the first quarter, the Clippers shot 8-of-17 from the field and 3-of-3 from three-point range, and the team didn't get any free throw shots, but they did have eight turnovers. Leonard scored five points on 2-of-2 shooting, followed by George, Mann and Westbrook on 0-of-7 and 0-of-7. On the other side, the Pelicans shot 25-of-16 from the field with four points and 3-of-9 from three-point range with four points; Murphy hit three 3-pointers in six minutes for 11 points; Zion 0 points, 3 assists; McCollum 7 points; Ingram and Jones each scored six points.
In the second quarter, thanks to the combined efforts of Harden and Powell, the Clippers narrowed the score to 19 points in the second quarter and trailed the opponent 47-55 at 28-19. Harden finished with 16 points, four rebounds, four turnovers and an assist on 5-of-7 shooting in the first two quarters of the game, the 15th of his career behind Kik, while George was 0-of-9, Leonard had seven points and Westbrook had two points. On the Pelicans' side, Murphy had 13 points, Zion was 0-of-2, 2 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals, Jones had 9 points, McCollum had 9 points, Ingram had 8 points, and Valanciunas had 8.
The game continued, and the two teams played hard, the Clippers led 22-24 in the first quarter, and after three quarters, the Clippers were 69-79 and were stretched away by the Pelicans by 10 points. After three quarters, the Pelicans scored double digits, including Ingram 14 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, Jones, McCollum 12 points, and Murphy 13 points; Zion, on the other hand, was 2-of-8 from the field and scored just eight points, but contributed nine assists. The Clippers had three, Harden had 16 points, five rebounds, two and four errors, Harden scored zero points in the third quarter, Leonard scored 14 points, Powell scored 10, and George was 2-of-14 with zero three-pointers.
The Clippers led 74-79 at one point at the start of the fourth quarter and narrowed the lead to four points at 82-86. When McCollum hit a three-pointer, the Lakers still led by 5 minutes 15, 89-105, and after a short break, they were tied by 16 points. Then the Clippers replaced Leonard, and without George's help, the Clippers were eliminated early, and their ranking, which is fourth in the East.
Considering that there is not much difference in the strength of the top four and the top four in the East, their ranking is the same.