The Los Angeles Clippers had Paul George, their second-most-important introduction, back for the game against the New Orleans Pelicans, on Thursday. The good news was, George scored 33 points, nine rebounds, four assists and buried three 3-pointers; the bad news was, the Clippers lost to the Pelicans 132-127 at the Smoothie King Center.

Neither side was able to send their best squads. The Clippers put Kawhi Leonard, Patrick Beverley, and Landry Shamet on the bench; the Pelicans' Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and, of course, Zion Williamson had to sit this game out. Perhaps in order to enhance the Clippers' offense, coach Doc Rivers put their bench ace pair, Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell in the starting unit, which, however, became a latent danger in the game.

First, let's talk about George's performance. Though he has not played since he was knocked out in the first-round playoffs last season, George was showing some really encouraging signs. In 24 minutes, George's off-ball movement, shooting and scoring details on the floor were as good as they had been.

What held George back was his defense. It's clear that his body was not fast enough to catch up with his head and that put him into foul trouble – five fouls in the first three quarters. As a result, George's hands were tied defensively in the game and the Pelicans began to aim for him as a breach in the second half.

Rivers should be held responsible for the loss with his game plan. As a 2.01-meter-tall center, Harrell's reliable in switch defense but not so much for rebound and rim protecting. The team's only qualified big man Ivica Zubac got 12 minutes on the court. As a result, the Pelicans grabbed 15 more rebounds (52-37) than the Clippers. Derrick Favors put down 20 points and 20 rebounds, including nine on the offensive glass. Meanwhile, the Clippers were lousy in sealing the perimeter as they watched New Orleans bury 18 3-pointers at a rate of 52.94 percent.

When a strong team takes on a weak team, the safest solution is to build the game on defense and limit the opponents' scoring. Nonetheless, the Clippers chose to go "run & gun" with the Pelicans, the team that have been for having no defense. Thanks to that, players of both sides scored like they were enjoying a free buffet. When the Clippers wanted to focus on defense, it was already too late to change their mindset or stifle the Pelicans' boiling touch.

Nets suffer third straight loss. Can Irving lead a team?

The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Denver Nuggets 101-93 at the Pepsi Center, suffering their third consecutive loss recently. Kyrie Irving got 17 points, six rebounds and nine assists for the Nets. If you only look at the game statistics, specially Irving's 8/22 shooting performance, you may judge that it's Irving's bad habit of trying to take over everything that cost the Nets this game.

That's not the true cause. Irving in the first half delivered seven assists to help Brooklyn lead 61-49. Somehow, the team's field goal rate dropped to 23 percent and only scored 32 points in the second half. Though Irving tried to turn the tide by increasing individual attack, the team's freezing touch affected him, too.

In fact, the Nets' franchise defect was the major reason behind the team's loss. In their starting-lineup, the Nets put Taurean Prince and Jarrett Allen as the power forward and center, way too thin compared with their Nuggets' matchup, Paul Millsap and Nikola Jokic. Millsap and Jokic could easily walk over Prince and Allen in one-on-one possessions. Therefore, the rest of the Nets must always be ready to put up help defense, which will leave other members of the Nuggets open, especially in front of Millsap and Jokic, two of the league's best big-man passers.

Irving has been blamed for taking too many shots (23) so far this season but it should be pointed out that he could put down 29.7 points + seven assists per game. What he did in Thursday's game proved that Irving had no problem passing the ball to teammates but he would not hesitate to carry the game once he realized that assisting teammates could not lead to victory.

Such mentality of Irving may come from his failed 2018-19 season with the Boston Celtics. Back then, he often had to keep a check on his intention to score in coach Brad Stevens' system based on egalitarianism. That system turned out to be a failure. Therefore, since Irving arrived in Brooklyn, he could focus on orchestrating in normal time but when he felt he must stand out, he would not mind taking as many shots as possible, only to win.

Other games on Thursday included (home teams in bold):

Miami Heat 108-97 Cleveland Cavaliers

Dallas Mavericks 103-106 New York Knicks

Chicago Bulls 114-125 Milwaukee Bucks

Atlanta Hawks 112-128 Phoenix Suns