By Clipper Nation Insider (@ClipNationIns) | Nov. 8, 2026 | Intuit Dome, Inglewood
The LA Clippers beat the New Orleans Pelicans 139-123 on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, at Intuit Dome, snapping a seven-game losing streak by finally taking care of the ball. A team that entered averaging a league-worst 20.1 turnovers committed only 11 against the NBA's steals leader, assisted on 34 of its 46 field goals and shot 55% from the field and 16-of-38 from three. Darius Garland had 24 points and 10 assists, Brook Lopez scored 20 on 8-of-11, and a bench led by Gradey Dick (15 on 6-of-7) and Keaton Wagler (15 on 4-of-5) outscored New Orleans' reserves 59-38. Zion Williamson went 9-of-9 for 25, Trey Murphy III scored 26 and Jeremiah Fears added 25, but the Pelicans never led after Kobe Sanders' go-ahead three with 2:23 left in the third. The 139 points are a Clippers season high in front of 17,927. LA improves to 2-7; New Orleans falls to 4-6.
How did the Clippers beat the Pelicans?
Ball security and ball movement, then a bench surge at the end of the third. The Clippers turned it over 11 times to New Orleans' 17 (16 player, 1 team), won points off turnovers 20-14, and assisted on 74% of their baskets (34 of 46). They also won the paint 60-52, the offensive glass 13-10 and the three-point line by six makes (16-of-38 against 10-of-29, a 48-30 scoring edge from deep). New Orleans matched LA at the free-throw line (31 makes each) and got 76 points from Murphy, Williamson and Fears, but the rest of the roster scored 47. The Pelicans led 93-91 with 2:36 left in the third. LA closed the quarter on an 11-2 run, opened the fourth on a 15-6 run, and led by as many as 20 (135-115) late. The Clippers led for 83% of the game, and the last of the game's 13 lead changes came on Sanders' 27-foot three at 2:23 of the third.
Game flow: Clippers vs Pelicans by quarter
First quarter (28-28). An even, foul-heavy opening. Lopez hit a 23-foot three and two short jumpers early, and Garland's 28-foot three put LA up 17-14 at 5:05. Williamson scored three times at the rim in the quarter. Dick's turnaround and 24-foot three (Sanders assist) made it 28-24 with 58 seconds left, but Saddiq Bey and Derik Queen answered with four free throws to tie it by the end of the quarter.
Second quarter (LAC 39-32, LAC 67-60 at half). The Clippers' bench and starters both hit. Dick and Wagler opened with seven quick points, then LA went on a 14-4 run from 35-34 to 49-38 at 5:59: a Garland three, Lopez layup, Hachimura dunk, Garland 25-footer and Lopez hook, with Kris Dunn and Garland setting up the bigs. The lead peaked at 13 (54-41). New Orleans chipped back behind Fears (two threes in the quarter) and Williamson's work at the rim and the line, and Strus' three (Garland assist) at 52.2 helped LA take a 7-point lead to the break.
Third quarter (35-35, LAC 102-95 after three). Dunn's three opened the half at 70-60, then the Pelicans flipped it. Murphy, Williamson and Fears drove the push, Karlo Matkovic hit a 27-foot three, and Fears' driving layup at 7:18 gave New Orleans its first lead of the half, 78-77. Bey's three made it 86-82 at 5:20, the Pelicans' largest lead of the night (4). Baba Miller's steal of Queen at 4:40 sparked a 5-0 burst (Garland free throw and layup, Miller dunk) to retake the lead 87-86. The teams traded until Bey's free throws put New Orleans up 93-91 at 2:36. Then LA's second unit took over: Sanders hit a 27-foot three, Dick dunked off a Miller steal, Sanders hit a 28-footer, and Dick's 22-foot three at 50.3 capped an 11-2 closing run for 102-95. All 11 points came from Dick and Sanders. A Pelicans coach's challenge on a Queen out-of-bounds turnover at 35.3 was unsuccessful.
Fourth quarter (LAC 37-28). The Clippers put it away early. Miller's turnaround and Wagler's 26-foot three keyed a 15-6 run from 102-95 to 117-101 at 6:51; Wagler added a 22-foot three and set up Lopez for a layup in that stretch. Williamson scored twice to cut it to 119-105, but Lopez's alley-oop dunk from Garland, Garland's three free throws on a foul beyond the arc, and Lopez free throws kept the margin in double figures. Rui Hachimura's 26-foot three (Garland assist) made it 133-115 at 2:39, and Nick Martinelli's dunk pushed the lead to 20 at 1:59.
Team analysis: shooting, rebounding, turnovers, efficiency
Shooting. Clippers 46-of-84 (55%), 16-of-38 from three (42%), 31-of-38 at the line (82%). Pelicans 41-of-81 (51%), 10-of-29 from three (34%), 31-of-35 at the line (89%). Both offenses were efficient; the difference was the 18-point edge from three and five more made field goals overall.
Ball security. Clippers 11 turnovers, Pelicans 17 (16 player, 1 team). Steals went LA 8, New Orleans 6. Points off turnovers favored LA 20-14. Our Keys to the Match asked for 15 or fewer Clippers turnovers and 3 or fewer from Garland; LA hit both (Garland had 2). Against the NBA's steals leader, cutting nearly nine turnovers off the season average was the night.
Passing. 34 assists on 46 field goals (74%), against 23 assists on 41 for New Orleans. Garland had 10, and Dunn, Miller, Sanders and Wagler had 4 each. The extra pass beat a defense built to jump lanes.
Rebounding. Clippers 36-35 overall and 13-10 on the offensive glass, with Lopez and Derrick Jones Jr. grabbing 3 offensive boards each. Holding New Orleans to 10 offensive rebounds met the Keys target without Isaiah Jackson.
Paint, free throws and transition. LA scored 60 in the paint to New Orleans' 52. The Pelicans won fast-break points 15-11. New Orleans did get to the line 35 times, above the under-25 target from our preview, but LA attempted 38 of its own, and the Pelicans committed 29 fouls to LA's 24.
Bench. Clippers reserves (Miller, Martinelli, Strus, Pickett, Sanders, Christie, Dick, Wagler) scored 59; Pelicans reserves scored 38. Dick and Strus were each +17, Sanders +15 and Wagler +11.
Player breakdowns
Darius Garland (LAC): 24 points on 6-of-11, 3-of-7 from three, 9-of-12 FT, 10 assists, 2 turnovers. Four days after a six-turnover night against Miami, Garland ran a clean game. He created the second-quarter separation, set up Lopez's late alley-oop and Hachimura's 26-footer, and lived at the line. Two turnovers from a guard averaging 5.5 is the single biggest reason the turnover lever swung LA's way.
Brook Lopez (LAC): 20 points on 8-of-11, 7 rebounds (3 offensive), +9. With both backup centers out, Lopez played 26 minutes through 5 fouls and scored at every level: a three, short jumpers, a hook and the late alley-oop. His 3 offensive rebounds helped LA win the offensive glass 13-10.
Gradey Dick, Keaton Wagler and Baba Miller (LAC bench): 15, 15 and 12. Dick went 6-of-7 (2-of-2 from three) with 2 steals in 17 minutes and scored 5 of the 11 points in the late-third run (Sanders had the other 6). Wagler went 4-of-5 (3-of-4 from three) with 4 assists, and his two fourth-quarter threes broke the game open. Miller filled the box: 12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks (LA's only two blocks), including the steal that flipped the third quarter. Kris Dunn (14 on 4-of-7, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) and Hachimura (14) rounded out the scoring.
Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III and Jeremiah Fears (NOP): 25, 26 and 25. Williamson made all 9 field goals and 7 of 9 free throws, finishing even (0) in plus-minus in 31 minutes. Murphy scored 26 on 9-of-17 with four threes; Fears scored 25 on 10-of-14 with 5 assists. The rest of the Pelicans shot poorly: Dejounte Murray went 1-of-6 and Bey 3-of-12, and Herbert Jones finished -23.
How did the CNI prediction hold up?
Our Keys to the Match pick was Pelicans 117, Clippers 112. It missed on the winner and by a wide margin on LA's score. The contingency flip (Clippers 114-111 if LA kept turnovers at 15 or fewer and held New Orleans under 25 free-throw attempts) only half-triggered: LA had 11 turnovers, but New Orleans shot 35 free throws. The keys themselves graded well. Key 1 (ball security): hit, 11 turnovers and 2 from Garland. Key 2 (free throws): missed, 35 Pelicans attempts. Key 3 (wall off Zion): missed on Williamson, who went 9-of-9, though the help held the rest of the roster in check. Key 4 (three-point math): mostly hit, 38 attempts (two short of 40) and six more makes than New Orleans. Key 5 (glass): hit, New Orleans held to 10 offensive rebounds.
What's next for the Clippers?
The Clippers (2-7) visit the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. PT (9:00 p.m. ET) at Mortgage Matchup Center. The takeaway to carry in: this is what LA looks like at 11 turnovers instead of 20. The shooting and passing were already there; holding onto the ball turned a 93-91 third-quarter deficit into a season-high 139 points.
Sources
ESPN box score and play-by-play, Pelicans at Clippers, Nov. 8, 2026 (event 401909950): https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/401909950
ESPN Clippers schedule: https://www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/lac
Clipper Nation Insider, Clippers vs Pelicans Keys to the Match: https://www.clippernationinsider.com/blog/clippers-pelicans-keys-to-the-match-nov-8-2026