Murphy and Jones Jr. Close Strong as Pelicans Hold Off Clippers

The Pelicans win the last punch in a game that never lets go

The Clippers and Pelicans trade blows all night, but when the game reaches its sharpest edge, New Orleans has the cleaner finish. In a game with 24 lead changes and a largest lead of just eight points, the Pelicans outlast Los Angeles 105-99 by turning a tight fourth quarter into a decisive home surge. Trey Murphy III is the headline act, Derrick Jones Jr. keeps pressing downhill, and New Orleans wins the possession game late with steals, movement, and just enough shot-making to separate.

The first half already feels like a sprint. New Orleans edges the opening quarter 28-26, then both teams keep pushing the tempo in the second as the Pelicans take a 55-52 lead into the break. Nobody is comfortable. Every Clippers push gets answered. Every Pelicans run gets met with a counter. The third quarter keeps the tension high, with Los Angeles still hanging around and New Orleans clinging to an 87-84 advantage heading into the fourth. It’s not chaos, but it’s close enough that every empty trip feels expensive.

Then Murphy starts to carve out the possession that tilts the whole night. With the score sitting at 91-94, New Orleans puts together the game’s key run — 9 straight points — and the catalyst is Murphy burying a 24-foot three-pointer at 4:14 to flip the energy and push the Pelicans in front 100-94. That’s the turning point. The Clippers had been right there all game, but that shot changes the rhythm completely. Suddenly the Pelicans are the team forcing the issue, and the Clippers are chasing through traffic.

From there, New Orleans plays like a team that knows exactly where the pressure is coming from. Derrick Jones Jr. comes up with a steal at 3:42, then immediately turns it into a running layup at 3:37 to make it 100-97. Zion Williamson answers the next phase with a cutting dunk at 2:43 — not a volume night from Zion by any means, but a timely one, the kind of finish that keeps the floor stretched and the defense honest. The Pelicans also get a huge defensive play from K. Matković, who records a steal at 1:42 when the Clippers are trying to make one last push. Those are the kinds of plays that don’t show up as the loudest possessions, but they decide whether a four-point game stays four points or flips back to two.

Murphy finishes with 27 points, five rebounds, and two assists and the shot chart matters as much as the total — he knocks down five threes and keeps spacing the floor in a game where New Orleans needed every clean look it could generate. Derrick Jones Jr. adds 22 points, four rebounds, and three assists, repeatedly getting into the paint and finishing through contact or before the Clippers can load up. Saddiq Bey’s 20 points, six rebounds, and six assists give the Pelicans another steady layer of creation, and his assist on Murphy’s dagger three is the play that most clearly captures the night: simple, decisive, and on time.

Los Angeles doesn’t go quietly. Derrick Jones Jr. — who was everywhere in the final stretch — finishes with a strong stat line, and the Clippers are still alive when B. Bogdanović converts a driving layup at 0:28.7 to cut it to 105-99. But the last real chance never fully materializes, and the Pelicans close the door with defensive pressure and timely execution. Even Kobe Sanders chips in with four steals, a quiet but useful defensive presence in a game where possessions mattered as much as buckets.

The win matters because it wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t built on one runaway stretch. It was earned in the margins — a stop here, a steal there, one big three from Murphy, one downhill burst from Jones, one more play from Zion at the rim. For New Orleans, it’s the kind of late-game hold that can travel into bigger games, especially if this group keeps defending like it did in the final minutes. For the Clippers, it’s a reminder that being close all night isn’t enough when the opponent has the final shot-making and the final stops.