Kawhi Leonard is close to returning for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram are a long way from returning to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Both teams will be without key players when they meet on Monday night in New Orleans.
Leonard has not played this season due to knee inflammation, but he returned to practice more than a week ago and reportedly could play on January 4, although he will not be on the Clippers’ three-game trip that begins Hoagy New Orleans.
The Clippers also played without Terrence Mann (finger), Kevin Porter Jr. (illness) and Kobe Brown (back) in their most recent game, a 102-92 home win against Golden State on Friday.
In the absence of the six-time All-Star, Los Angeles has compiled the fifth-best record in the Western Conference (tied with the crosstown Lakers). Head coach Tyronn Lue said that believing they could win without Leonard has been “half the battle”.
“When you step on the field, no matter who’s on the court, having the mentality that we can win games has been our model for the last five years,” Lue said. “We talked about holding it off until Kawhi came back, and our group is doing a good job of that.”
The Clippers had six double-figure scorers against Golden State, led by 26 points from Norman Powell, who has emerged as the team’s leading scorer (24.2) in Leonard’s absence. Center Ivica Zubac had her seventh consecutive double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds).
They blew a 21-point lead, watched the short-handed Warriors get within three with 2:30 left, then held it. Los Angeles committed 12 of its 23 turnovers in the fourth quarter.
“It was a big win for us no matter which way you look at it,” Lue said. “However, in three days, I won’t remember how we won. I’ll just know it was a W.”
The Pelicans would be happy with any kind of win after losing their last nine games and 18 of their last 19. And no return date has been set for either of the team’s top two players. Williamson has missed 26 games and Ingram has missed 14 games.
New Orleans has not blown a lead in either of its last two games – Friday’s home loss against Memphis (132-124) and last night’s loss against Houston (128-111).
“[We]have to try to execute from the start, play hard from the start so we don’t always play out of a hole,” said forward Trey Murphy III, who finished with a season-high 35 points against the Pelicans. had led. Grizzlies.
Murphy is averaging a career-best 20.2 points per game and has averaged 26.2 in his last five games. He is New Orleans’ most prolific 3-point shooter, but has had to expand his scoring output in the absence of Williamson and Ingram.
Coach Willie Green said of Murphy, “(Against Memphis) he played the right way the whole game.” “When the ball came to him, he made a good play. He was solid, he shot on the ball. He got to the basket, he got to the free-throw line. It’s a great opportunity for Trey, and He took full advantage of it.”
–Field Level Media
