New Orleans had ascended to the top half of the NBA’s defensive rankings after the season’s first nine games, representing a dramatic improvement from the previous campaign. Unfortunately for the Pelicans, they will likely drop a few spots following Sunday’s 10th game. Los Angeles cleared 100 points before the end of the third quarter, then quickly built a 15-point lead in the final period to hand New Orleans a rare convincing loss, despite three Pelicans tallying 25-plus points individually.

Trey Murphy led the visitors with 26 points, while Jeremiah Fears and Zion Williamson delivered 25 apiece, but it wasn’t nearly enough against a red-hot Clippers squad that racked up 39, 35 and 37 points in the final three quarters, respectively. The Clippers only averaged 109.1 points in their previous eight games, but had no trouble reaching that number, halting their seven-game losing streak. New Orleans ended a run of not allowing more than 126 points in regulation in any outing this season.

Among the Pelicans' six losses this season, only Sunday and an Oct. 28 defeat to Denver by 13 points have come by a margin of more than six points.

BY THE NUMBERS

11/11: New Orleans assist-to-turnover ratio in Sunday’s first half. The latter half was a little bit better, but the Pelicans finished with just 23 assists against 17 turnovers.

31/35: Pelicans foul shooting, which is 89 percent. Normally that would mean a major upper hand in that category, but the Clippers nearly matched that figure by making 31 of 38 free throws. The Pelicans’ trips to the stripe dried up in the fourth quarter (only shot 2/2).

59-38: Speaking of categories that are normally in NOLA’s favor but were not Sunday, the Clippers held a 21-point edge in bench scoring. Reserves Gradey Dick, Keaton Wagler and Baba Miller all contributed double-digit points for LA.

NEXT FOR NEW ORLEANS

A Monday (9 p.m. CT) back-to-back at Golden State to conclude what’s a brief trip to California. The Warriors will enter Monday’s matchup riding a seven-game winning streak after an 0-3 start.

NEXT VS. CLIPPERS

A second November trip to Intuit Dome is scheduled for Black Friday (Nov. 27). It’s the NBA Cup group stage finale for both teams; the Pelicans or Clippers will likely need to win their next two Cup contests for the rematch to be consequential within the annual early-season event.