You can find the Pelicans listed in the obituary section rather than the sports pages after they just lost DeMarcus Cousins for the season.

Cousins suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon in the final seconds of the Pelicans' victory against the Rockets Friday. That was New Orleans' seventh win in its last eight games and fourth straight.

Cousins' injury is likely to doom the Pelicans' chances of making the playoffs. But right now the Pelicans are playing their best ball and they will be highly motivated to win this first matchup minus Cousins especially this being a Sunday home game.

The Clippers are nothing special. They are just a .500 club with plenty of injuries of their own with Austin Rivers, Patrick Beverley and Danilo Galinari all out.