NEW ORLEANS — Trey Murphy III scored 27 points and the New Orleans Pelicans extended their home winning streak to seven games with a 105-99 victory over the Clippers on Thursday night.
Saddiq Bey had 20 points and Zion Williamson added 15 for the Pelicans, who swept the two-game set against the Clippers after a 124-109 win, also at home, on Wednesday night.
Dejounte Murray was held out to rest as part of his comeback from a ruptured Achilles tendon. He had 17 points and a season-high 11 assists Wednesday night in his ninth game since making his season debut last month.
Derrick Jones Jr. scored 22 points, John Collins had 18 and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 16 for the Clippers, who lost their fourth in a row.
Kawhi Leonard sat out a night after scoring 25 points and grabbing eight rebounds in his return from a one-game absence because of a sprained left ankle.
The Pelicans trailed 94-91 with 5:53 after Collins’ floater, but Williamson made a layup and Murphy hit a three-pointer to put New Orleans up for good as it closed with a 14-5 run.
NEW ORLEANS — Saddiq Bey scored 25 points, Trey Murphy added 23 and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame an early 18-point hole to beat the Clippers 124-109 on Wednesday night.
Dejounte Murray had 17 points and 11 assists, while Zion Williamson and rookie Derrick Queen each scored 14 for the Pelicans, who received a standing ovation as the final seconds wound down on their sixth straight victory at home and ninth win in their last 13 games overall
Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points and John Collins added 18 for the Clippers, who dropped a game below .500 (34-35), but maintained a tenuous hold on the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference standings, a half-game ahead of Portland.
Bey hit five of 10 three-point shots to help New Orleans go 16 of 37 (43.2%) from deep. The Pelicans also made 20 of 21 free throws, with Queen making all nine of his.
Pelicans rookie guard Jeremiah Fears chipped in 11 points off the bench.
Murphy made his 200th three of the season late in the third quarter to give New Orleans an 89-81 lead. His fourth make from deep made it 94-81 in the final minute of the period, which ended with New Orleans leading 96-85.
Murphy’s double-clutch dunk over Brook Lopez to close out a fast break spawned by Herb Jones’ steal gave New Orleans a 117-101 lead with 4:43 left, and the Pelicans led by as many as 20 in the final minutes.
New Orleans committed eight turnovers in the first nine minutes, and the Clippers converted those into nine points while building a 33-18 lead.
Leonard scored 12 of his points during that stint and the Clippers led by as many as 18 during the opening quarter before the Pelicans trimmed it to 40-26 on Murphy’s free throws.
New Orleans came all the way back to tie it at 58 on Murphy’s three late in the second quarter.
Leonard and Murphy traded baskets in the final 10 seconds before halftime, with Murphy tying it at 60 on a high, driving floater in traffic.
Williamson has been listed as 6-foot-6, 284 pounds since New Orleans selected him out of Duke with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft. His weight and fitness level have been regularly criticized, and the amount of time Williamson has missed because of injuries hasn’t helped (including all of the 2021-22 season following offseason right foot surgery).
After playing only 30 games last season because of a left hamstring strain and a lower back injury, Williamson reported for 2025-26 looking trim and in shape. He told reporters that he and Pelicans trainer Daniel Bove had come up with a strategy to address his fitness while rehabbing his hamstring and that he stuck to it.
“I haven’t felt like this since college, high school,” Williamson said at the time, “where I can walk in the gym and I’m like just, ‘I feel good.’”
Williamson has played in 46 of the Pelicans’ 63 games this season, already the third-most games he has played in his seven NBA seasons. In a recent interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews, Williamson addressed how the past criticism affected him mentally.
“I would say the most difficult point was when I missed my third year with a broken foot, and there was a lot of criticism on my weight, my care for the game, etc.,” Williamson said. “But … while people were saying what they’re saying — and everybody’s entitled to their own opinion, it is what it is — I’m in Portland rehabbing, not knowing if my foot’s gonna heal, and it was frustrating. It was very frustrating.
“The most difficult point was when I missed my third year with a broken foot. … There was a lot of criticism on my weight, my care for the game. … I was really low because I just wanted to play basketball.”
“I was low. I was really low because I just wanted to play basketball. I just wanted to play the game I love, but every time you turn the TV on, every time I check my phone, it was nothing but negative criticism, man. At the time, it did a lot, like I said, it did a lot, but it was a blessing in disguise, and I learned from it and I grew from it.”
The Lakers were looking to stack wins and are not in position to judge an opponent by its win-loss record.
So, when the Lakers encountered a Pelicans team that arrived at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night with a 19-43 record, they knew they couldn’t afford to overlook New Orleans. Especially since the Pelicans had won four of their past five and because they have a talented core of young talent that includes Zion Williamson, Herbert Jones, Trey Murphy III and Dejounte Murray.
It took all five starters scoring in double figures and it took a strong defensive effort in the fourth quarter for the Lakers (37-24) to pull out a 110-101 win over a stubborn Pelicans team.
“Well, we knew we weren’t playing against their record tonight,” said LeBron James, who was one of the starters to score in double figures with 21 points to go along with seven rebounds, seven assists and two blocks. But he also had five turnovers.
“It’s the first time they’ve been whole in quite a while,” James, who was eight-for-12 from the field, continued. “And we know when they’ve been whole what kind of team they’ve been. So, we came in with that mindset, understanding what kind of team we were playing and they won their last four out of five before tonight, or something like that.
“But we didn’t come in with the notion that we were playing against their record. We came in with the notion that we were playing a very athletic team that’s been playing exceptional basketball of late.”
The Lakers have been a better team as of late as well, winning their third straight game after losing three straight.
They won this one over the Pelicans with just enough offense and some timely defense.
Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 27 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. But he was just 10-for-22 from the field and three-for-10 from three-point range and he had seven turnovers.
“I think we responded in a good way,”: Doncic said. “Sometimes you got to win playing bad. That’s what good teams do. I think that’s what it is today. Obviously it wasn’t our best game, but we managed to get a win.”
Austin Reaves had 15 points on four-for-15 shooting and two for seven on three-pointers, eight rebounds and five turnovers.
Reaves injured his arm late in the fourth quarter after stripping the basketball away from Williamson. But after a quick time out, Reeves returned to the game.
“I just hit my funny bone,” Reaves said. “Whole hand went numb, called a time out, kind of went away and was able to play.”
Deandre Ayton had 13 points and eight rebounds.
There also was the defense and energy Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes provided the Lakers.
Smart had 10 points, four steals and three blocks. He also was big on offense, drilling a three-pointer with 1:34 left for a 105-98 Lakers lead.
Hayes had eight points, six rebounds and two blocks.
“Jaxson was guarding Zion, which is not easy,” Doncic said. “So, I think he had some big, big plays for us. And obviously Smart has been the key to our wins (this season).”
The Lakers had 20 turnovers through three quarters, which didn’t help their cause.
They had just one in the fourth quarter and that came on a late-game 24-second violation when they were running out the clock.
The Lakers didn’t help themselves by losing their composure.
Doncic was given a technical foul in the second quarter. Luke Kennard received a technical foul in the third quarter and Ayton got a technical foul in the fourth quarter after being called for a foul blocking a shot by Williamson.
Austin Reaves celebrates after making a three-pointer in the second half.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
The Lakers had 12 blocks for the game and seven in the decisive fourth quarter.
They held the Pelicans to 35% shooting in the fourth and just 23 points.
“I think we’ve made some strides defensively,” James said. “I think we didn’t play much at all zone tonight. We started the game with it, we kind of went away from it. So, I thought our man-to-man defense was pretty good. I thought Jaxson and Marcus were great on that end and then everyone else kind of trickled in as well.”
Kawhi Leonard scored 23 points, and the Clippers beat the New Orleans Pelicans 137-117 on Sunday night to end a three-game losing streak.
Ninth in the Western Conference, the Clippers improved to 28-31. The Pelicans are 13th in the West at 19-43.
New Orleans star Zion Williamson sat out after injuring his right ankle at Utah on Saturday night. He had played a career-high 35 straight games.
The Clippers never trailed. They led 43-32 after the first quarter and had a 76-70 advantage at the half. It was 107-94 after three, and the Clippers stretched the margin to 26 in the fourth.
Jordan Miller added 19 points for the Clippers. Derrick Jones Jr. had 17, Brook Lopez 16 and John Collins 15.
While Leonard went one for seven from three-point range, the Clippers were 17 for 36 overall. Lopez was four for six, and Jones and Kobe Sanders both were three for four.
Jeremiah Fears led New Orleans with 28 points, hitting five of six three-pointers. Derik Queen scored 19 points, Dejounte Murray had 17, and Trey Murphy III added 16 after missing five games because of a right shoulder injury.
