November 7, 2026 at 5:15 AM UTC
Pregame AnalysisConfident Pelicans Meet a Clippers Team Searching for Answers
New Orleans arrives on a four-game winning streak while the Clippers try to end a seven-game skid.
This page is the pregame analysis. The box score is the main page for the game, and the matchup history collects every meeting between these teams.
- Pelicans vs Clippers Box Score – Nov 8, 2026 (2026-27) Clippers vs Pelicans matchup history Postgame report
The Pelicans have turned their season around quickly. After an 0-4 start, they have won four straight to reach 4-4, including back-to-back overtime wins over Memphis and Utah. Those close finishes matter here. New Orleans has recently shown it can survive tight endings, and it arrives at SoFi-era Clippers basketball with its confidence at its highest point of the year.
The Clippers are 1-7 and have lost seven in a row. Their latest loss was a 117-116 overtime defeat to Miami on a Klay Thompson 3-pointer with one second left, after they blew a 20-point lead. The Heat outscored them by six in the third quarter and nine in the fourth. The recurring problem is turnovers. The Clippers give the ball away 20.1 times a game, the most in the NBA, and Darius Garland alone averages 5.5. Garland keeps producing, and the team shoots well from three, but those giveaways keep erasing good offense.
New Orleans can take advantage of that through depth. Its bench is the league's top-scoring unit at 47.3 points per game, with Saddiq Bey leading it and Trendon Watford emerging as a key rotation piece after not playing in the first four games. Trey Murphy III was upgraded from probable to available after missing the Utah game, which restores a starter, though Yves Missi was listed out with a knee bone bruise.
The Clippers' best hope is a lift from Brandon Ingram, who said he is "pretty close" to his debut. No return date has been set for this game, and his partially torn Achilles and missed summer of 5-on-5 work leave his readiness uncertain. I expect the Pelicans' momentum, bench scoring and the Clippers' sloppiness to decide a close game. Pelicans 114, Clippers 108.