The beat goes on for Paul Pierce and the Los Angeles Clippers.

With victories over the Charlotte Hornets (17-19) and New Orleans Pelicans (11-25) over the weekend, Los Angeles (25-13) extended its NBA-leading win streak to nine games.

Defense was key throughout the weekend, as the Clips rolled past the Hornets 97-83 on Saturday and edged the Pelicans 114-111 in overtime Sunday.

Charlotte Hornets v Los Angeles Clippers

The Truth started both contests at power forward while Clippers start Blake Griffin remains out with a partially torn left quadriceps tendon. No. 34 struggled to find his shot in both starts, going a combined 3-of-16 from the field, but he locked in on defense and even produced a highlight-worthy block.

In the third quarter of Saturday’s game, Paul swatted away Kemba Walker’s shot attempt to send the Staples Center into celebration. The Clippers forced 15 turnovers and held the Hornets to 37 percent shooting from the floor, while shooting 44 percent themselves.

“For us to win, we had to embrace the defensive side of the ball, and we did that,” said J.J. Redick, who scored 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting. “Three quarters for them under 20 points, it’s pretty phenomenal.”

The Hornets used a 28-point second quarter to take a 46-43 lead into the break. But a Chris Paul triple early in the third quarter gave the Clippers a lead they would not relinquish. CP3 was one of four starters to finish in double figures, and Jamal Crawford poured in 19 points off the bench.

“We’re putting huge emphasis on defense,” said Paul, who finished with 25 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block. “The only way we can really score without the big fella is if we defend and get out in transition.”

Charlotte Hornets v Los Angeles Clippers

Since Paul joined the starting lineup in place of Griffin, who missed his eighth consecutive game Sunday, the Clippers have adopted a collective mentality, and it has paid major dividends.

However, the Pelicans nearly replicated that effort on Sunday to end L.A.’s streak. New Orleans star Anthony Davis also sat out the game after bruising his lower back in the previous contest. But guards Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday stepped up with big nights in his stead, combining for 55 points, 18 rebounds, 11 assists and four steals to give the Clippers all they could handle. However, LA overcame.

“A.D. didn’t play, so they played extremely spirited,” L.A. coach Doc Rivers said. “I thought this was a tough game coming into it — back-to-back — afternoon games. We had so many chances to put it away. We didn’t play great, but we still won.”

The game was anything but pretty, but Paul and the Clippers pulled it out to move to 3-0 this season versus the Pelicans.

L.A. got off to a slow start, turned the ball over seven times and scored just two points in the paint in a lackluster first quarter. But when Doc Rivers sent the second unit in to start the second quarter, they didn’t disappoint. The L.A. bench totaled 49 points, including a 21-point effort from Crawford.

The Pelicans ended the first quarter on a 7-0 run and scored six unanswered points to start the second before Austin Rivers ended the Clippers’ scoring drought with back-to-back baskets. That cut the NOLA lead to seven, 30-23, with 10 minutes to play. After a DeAndre Jordan dunk, Rivers crossed up Toney Douglas to cut the deficit to three.

New Orleans Pelicans v Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers used a flurry of threes from Pablo Prigioni, Wesley Johnson, Crawford and CP3 to cap a 25-6 run and take an eight-point advantage, 44-36, with five minutes left in the half.

Decent defense sustained their lead throughout the third quarter, but things started to unravel in the fourth. The Clippers missed every field goal attempt in the final 6:05 of regulation. Their final four points came from the charity stripe off the hands of Jordan and Redick. With 1.6 seconds remaining, Rivers fouled Jrue Holiday from beyond the arc. The point guard made all three from the line to tie it at 101 and force overtime.

In the extra period, the teams were trading baskets before Johnson and CP3 drained back-to-back triples to take a 111-106 advantage. From there, the Pelicans scored five from the line, and the Clippers scored three. Ryan Anderson had a chance to force a second overtime, but missed from 22 feet allowing L.A. to hang on for a ninth straight victory.

“We can win in games we don’t play well,” said Jordan, who recorded his eighth straight double-double with 12 points and 11 boards “We played (poorly) tonight I thought — especially down the stretch. Our offense was OK, but down the stretch we didn’t play well. We know that. But, some games, you have to grind it out.”

NEXT UP

Paul and the Clippers will face another tough defensive squad, the Miami Heat, on Wednesday for the third installment of their five-game homestead.

The Heat (22-15) are fifth in the East after falling 98-83 in Utah on Saturday, but they’re allowing just 95.2 points per game this year—good for No. 3 in the league behind the San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers.

The meeting will mark the first between the teams this season and will broadcast at 10:30 p.m. ET.

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