National Basketball Association
New Orleans 113, L.A. Clippers 100
When: 10:30 PM ET, Monday, April 9, 2018
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Officials: #42 Eric Lewis, #48 Scott Foster, #18 Matt Boland
Attendance: 15742
Anthony Davis scored 28 points, and the New Orleans Pelicans clinched a playoff berth with a 113-100 victory over the host Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night at Staples Center.

The Pelicans (47-34) won their fourth consecutive game as they completed a sweep of a three-game road trip to reach the playoffs for the first time in three years. They sit in fifth place in the Western Conference going into their season finale at home against San Antonio on Wednesday.

The Spurs and Oklahoma City have the same record as New Orleans, which holds the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Thunder and leads the season series with San Antonio 2-1.

The Pelicans were the seventh team in the West to clinch a playoff spot. The remaining spot will go to the winner of the game between Denver and Minnesota on Wednesday night in Minneapolis.

Davis led four Pelicans in double figures as they pulled away from the short-handed Clippers at the start of the second half. Nikola Mirotic had 24 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, E'Twaun Moore scored 19 and Ian Clark returned from a two-game absence caused to a sprained ankle to score 13 off the bench.

The Clippers (42-39), who were eliminated from the playoff race when they lost to Denver on Saturday, were without seven injured players Monday -- Lou Williams, Austin Rivers, Danilo Gallinari, Patrick Beverley, Avery Bradley, Milos Teodosic and Jawun Evans.

Sindarius Thornwell scored 20, Montrezl Harrell had 15, Boban Marjanovic 12, Tobias Harris 11 and Tyrone Wallace and C.J. Williams 10 each to lead Los Angeles.

New Orleans led by 10 at halftime and started the third quarter with a 20-4 run to take a 79-53 lead midway through the period. The Pelicans held a 93-71 lead after three quarters, and Los Angeles didn't reduce the margin until New Orleans pulled its starters in the final minutes.

The Pelicans made 5 of 11 3-point attempts and the Clippers missed all four of their 3-point tries as New Orleans took a 31-23 lead after the first quarter.

The lead grew to 11 before the Pelicans went cold, scoring five points in a nearly six-minute span as Los Angeles took a one-point lead.

The Clippers took their final lead of the half at 49-47 before Mirotic scored five points to lead a 12-0 run that gave New Orleans a 59-49 halftime lead.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
New Orleans   L.A. Clippers
Anthony Davis 28 Scoring Sindarius Thornwell 20
Jrue Holiday 11 Assists Sindarius Thornwell 7
Nikola Mirotic 16 Rebounds DeAndre Jordan 15
Anthony Davis 6 Free Throws Made Tobias Harris 3
Jrue Holiday 4 Steals Montrezl Harrell 2
Anthony Davis 5 Blocks Montrezl Harrell 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
New Orleans 113 46.3 11-30 14-20 34 50 10 13 8
L.A. Clippers 100 45.9 2-17 8-19 29 61 6 6 16
Upcoming Games
  • L.A. Clippers will play their next game at home against L.A. Lakers. The Clippers have a W/L % of .619 after a win and .410 after a loss.
  • New Orleans will play their next game at home against San Antonio. The Pelicans have a W/L % of .609 after a win and .543 after a loss.