LA Clippers @ New Orleans Pelicans
Wednesday, March 18, 2026 at 8:00 PM ET
Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA | Game ID: 22501005
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
NOP 26 34 36 28 124LAC 40 20 25 24 109
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Bey scores 25 points and Murphy 23 to pace Pelicans to 124-109 victory over Clippers
NEW ORLEANS -- — Saddiq Bey scored 25 points, Trey Murphy added 23 and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame an early 18-point hole to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 124-109 on Wednesday night.
Dejounte Murray had 17 points and 11 assists, while Zion Williamson and rookie Derrick Queen each scored 14 for the Pelicans, who received a standing ovation as the final seconds wound down on their sixth straight victory at home and ninth win in their past 13 games overall
Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points and John Collins added 18 for the Clippers, who dropped a game below .500 (34-35), but maintained a tenuous hold on the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference standings, a half-game ahead of Portland.
Bey hit five of 10 3-point shots to help New Orleans go 16 of 37 (43.2%) from deep. The Pelicans also made 20 of 21 free throws, with Queen making all nine of his.
Pelicans rookie guard Jeremiah Fears chipped in 11 points off the bench.
Murphy made his 200th 3 of the season late in the third quarter to give New Orleans an 89-81 lead. His fourth make from deep made it 94-81 in the final minute of the period, which ended with New Orleans leading 96-85.
Murphy's double-clutch dunk over Brook Lopez to close out a fast break spawned by Herb Jones' steal gave New Orleans a 117-101 lead with 4:43 left, and the Pelicans led by as many as 20 in the final minutes.
New Orleans committed eight turnovers in the first nine minutes, and the Clippers converted those into nine points while building a 33-18 lead.
Leonard scored 12 of his points during that stint and the Clippers led by as many as 18 during the opening quarter before the Pelicans trimmed it to 40-26 on Murphy's free throws.
New Orleans came all the way back to tie it at 58 on Murphy's 3 late in the second quarter.
Leonard and Murphy traded baskets in the final 10 seconds before halftime, with Murphy tying it at 60 on a high, driving floater in traffic.
Up next The Clippers and Pelicans face each other for a second straight game in New Orleans on Thursday night.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
NOPDM D. Murray
DQ D. Queen
HJ H. Jones
JF J. Fears
KM K. Matković
SB S. Bey
TM T. Murphy III
YM Y. Missi
ZW Z. Williamson
LACBB B. Bogdanović
BL B. Lopez
BO Bogdanovic
CC C. Christie
DG D. Garland
DJ D. Jones Jr.
IJ I. Jackson
JC J. Collins
JM J. Miller
KD K. Dunn
KL K. Leonard
KS K. Sanders
SP S. Pedulla
NOP/LAC the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur