Five things to take from Clippers’ 109-105 loss at New Orleans

New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis, center, sits on the bench because of injuries with teammates center Alexis Ajinca, right, and guard Tim Frazier, left, in the first half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Sunday, March 20, 2016.

The Pelicans were without Anthony Davis (in the suit) on Sunday, but still managed to beat the Clippers 109-105 in New Orleans/AP photo by Max Becherer

 

– One of the first things that stands out is how many 3-point shot attempts the Clippers took and how few they made. The Clippers shot just 25.6 percent (10 of 39) from beyond the arc. The worst offenders were Wes Johnson (0 of 6), Austin Rivers (0 of 5), Paul Pierce (0-4) and Jamal Crawford (1 of 5). Hard to win like that, even against a Pelicans team missing Anthony Davis.

– This was the Clippers’ 39th game without forward Blake Griffin (quad, hand) and although they got off to a great start, reality seems to be setting in. The Clippers have lost four of their past five and six of their past nine and are now 26-13 sans Griffin.

J.J. Redick had a fine game. He scored 24 points and shot 9 of 11, 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Unfortunately for the Clippers, his marksmanship couldn’t off-set what was a team overall shooting percentage of 40.2.

DeAndre Jordan had just nine rebounds, well under his average of 13.9. It also marked the first time this season Jordan has had sub-10 rebounding games in succession. He pulled down only seven a night earlier in a loss at Memphis.

– The Pelicans committed 23 turnovers to just 14 for the Clippers. And the Pelicans still won. That’s because not only did they shoot better – 49.3 percent to 40.2 percent for the Clippers – they made their free throws. New Orleans shot 80 percent (32 of 40) from the free-throw line, the Clippers shot just 69 percent (29 of 42). DeAndre Jordan made 6 of 11. For him, that’s good.

BONUS TAKE: Good for the Clippers that they came from 14 down with 2:17 to play to trail by just a point twice in the final 27 seconds. But they never should have been down to a poor team missing its best player by 14 to begin with, even if they were the road team. The Pelicans are 26-43. The Clippers are 43-26.