Pelicans 108, Clippers 103

NEW ORLEANS — Guard Eric Gordon scored a season-high 28 points and forward Ryan Anderson, playing for injured Anthony Davis, added 24 to lift the New Orleans Pelicans to a 108-103 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers Friday night at the Smoothie King Center.

The Clippers (32-15) trailed 95-82 before running off the next 12 points to cut the deficit to 95-94 with 5:07 left.

But Gordon hit a 15-footer from the left baseline and then made another jumper that hit the rim twice before falling through, putting New Orleans (25-22) up 106-100 with 57 seconds left.

The Clippers got a 3-pointer from guard Jamal Crawford with 22.5 seconds left, making it 106-103, but reserve guard Jimmer Fredette iced the game with two foul shots with 17.9 seconds remaining.

Guard Chris Paul led the Clippers with 24 points, 14 in the final quarter. The loss snapped Los Angeles’ six-game winning streak.

The Pelicans made 13 of 25 shots from long range. The Pelicans continued to rain 3-pointers early in the third quarter, making three in the first 2:37 to take a 64-56 lead. Gordon made consecutive jumpers from long range.

New Orleans outscored the Clippers 30-19 in the third quarter, with Anderson canning three from long range for 14 points in the quarter. Overall, the Pelicans made 5 of 7 from long range in the period.

The Pelicans closed out the quarter when Fredette pump-faked guard Austin Rivers beyond the 3-point line, and Fredette made all three foul shots to give New Orleans an 88-76 lead.

The Pelicans built a 95-82 lead on five consecutive points by center Alexis Ajinca. But Paul responded with seven consecutive points, including a 3-pointer from the right wing, and center DeAndre Jordan hit a follow shot followed by another Paul 3-pointer as Los Angeles moved within 95-94 with 5:07 left.

Forward Blake Griffin scored 11 points and guard J.J. Redick had 10 for the Clippers in the first half, and Los Angeles took a 54-53 lead at halftime. Jordan also was a huge force in the middle, scoring eight points, all coming on either dunks or layups, and grabbing seven rebounds.

The Clippers outscored the Pelicans 30-14 in the paint, but they were just 3 of 14 on 3-point attempts.

The Pelicans shot better from long range — 47 percent on 7 of 15 attempts — than they did from in close in the first half. From inside the 3-point line, the Pelicans were just 10 of 27, 37 percent.

Gordon made a pair of 3-pointers and also penetrated easily against the Clippers’ defense, scoring 15 first-half points. Anderson and Ajinca added 10 points each.

NOTES: Pelicans PF Anthony Davis, who suffered a nasty groin injury in Wednesday night’s home loss to Denver, did not play against the Clippers. “He had some soreness this morning,” New Orleans coach Monty Williams said. “He tried to work in shootaround, and we didn’t like what we saw. He wants to play. I saw the other night the ‘want to’ in his eyes, (but) the ‘can do’ is totally different right now. We felt like a few more days of rest will help him get ready for the next game (Monday night against Atlanta).” … Clippers G J.J. Reddick returned to the lineup after suffering from back spasms. “He’s not limited that I know of, but we’ll watch him,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. … Rivers attributed the Clippers’ six-game winning streak entering the game to the defense bailing out the offense. “We’ve had stretches in the games where we go three or four minutes without the opponent scoring,” Rivers said.