The New Orleans Pelicans were looking to return to the win column Sunday night after seeing their 4-game winning streak snapped two nights earlier.

The Los Angeles Clippers, who entered the Intuit Dome on a 7-game losing streak, seemed like the perfect team to get the Pelicans back on track.

It didn’t happen though, despite Zion Williamson’s perfect night shooting from the floor.

The Pelicans unraveled late in the third quarter and it spilled over into the fourth in a 139-123 loss.

“There are going to be nights in the NBA where you get hit in the mouth and tonight was one of those nights,” said Pelicans’ coach Jamahl Mosley.

The 139 points were the second most points the Pelicans have allowed this season, second only to the 141 points given up in an overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets.

“That is unacceptable,” Mosley said. “I get it. That was a desperate team (we were playing), but 139 points and 30-plus point quarters (is unacceptable). I’m not worried about what the offense does. You’ve got to sit down and cover for one another and we’ve got to continue to fight no matter what happens in the game. … We’ve got to sit down and guard on the defensive side of the floor.”

Williamson made all nine of his field goal attempts to finish with 25 points.

Jeremiah Fears also scored 25 points to go with 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

Trey Murphy scored a game-high 26 points and made 4 of his 9 3-pointers. Murphy also had a team-high 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Saddiq Bey came off the bench to score 13 points.

It wasn’t nearly enough though as the Pelicans (4-6) remain winless in games when Herb Jones isn’t in the the starting lineup.

The Pelicans trailed just 67-60 at halftime, but got outscored 11-2 to close out the third quarter.  

“We’ve got to figure out that the mark of a good team and a together team is how you bounce back after night’s like tonight,” Mosley said.  

The Pelicans don’t have long to figure it out. They play the Golden State Warriors Monday at Chase Center. The Warriors have won seven consecutive games after starting the season 0-3.

“What you can take from this game is the desperation the Clippers played with after being on a losing streak and knowing that you’re walking into a Golden State team that is on a hot streak,” Mosley said. “They are playing with a high level of confidence. They have Hall of Fame players over there that are capable of doing some things.”

The Pelicans then return home for a 5-game homestand, including three games in four days this week. They play the Brooklyn Nets Wednesday. They follow that up against the Memphis Grizzlies Friday and the Denver Nuggets Saturday.