The New Orleans Pelicans started slow, but locked in and ended up cruising to a 124-109 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night.
Now the Pelicans move to 24-46. They will fully move one game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks and half a game ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies, should they keep the lead over the Denver Nuggets that they have at the time of writing.
Though not mathematically eliminated from the postseason, the play-in tournament is pretty much out of reach for New Orleans. Still, they're hoping to get a look at how their team looks together.
This next stretch of games is going to say a lot about how good they actually are, though they certainly look a lot better. This was the first of eight straight games against teams that will be in the Play-In and are trying to win.
While this night itself didn't start positively, the way that the Pelicans responded to their slow start was fantastic.
The Clippers outscored New Orleans 40-26 in the first quarter, and the Pelicans had brought the game to a tie by the time halftime came.
Kawhi Leonard was really able to get whatever he wanted. He finished with 25 points on 9-of-12 from the field and 4-of-6 from deep, while noticeably feeling his ankle sprain. Other than that, Los Angeles was held in check. Leonard also only had six points in the second half.
Dejounte Murray continues to look great for New Orleans. He had 17 points, four rebounds and 11 assists. It was his first double-double of the year and his ninth in a Pelicans uniform.
Derik Queen had one of his better games since moving to the bench. He had 14 points and went 9-for-9 from the charity stripe. Initiating contact and getting to the line will be a big boost to his game. That's the second-most he's attempted this season.
These two squads will meet again on Thursday, Antonio Daniels' birthday. The Pelicans have a chance to even the season series after losing the first two.
It'll be interesting to see who gets rolled out onto the court in the next game for both teams. Murray and Darius Garland haven't been playing in back-to-backs. Kawhi Leonard has been dealing with that ankle issue and didn't look 100%, despite his strong first half.