The Los Angeles Clippers came into Smoothie King Center on Tuesday night with the third-best defensive rating in the NBA.

Zion Williamson wasn’t fazed by it one bit.

Williamson put on a show, recording his second career triple-double to lead the Pelicans to a 127-120 victory.

Williamson finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 12 assists.

Forget what the records say. Forget where the Pelicans and Clippers are in the Western Conference standings. The Pelicans, next-to-last in the West, once again found a way to beat the Clippers.

“The challenge anytime you face an elite defense is how can you get easy baskets,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said before the game. “How can you make it easier for yourself? For us, getting out in transition is important. Zion has done a great job all season of picking his moments where he will attack and trusting his teammates when he doesn’t have anything.”

Williamson did just that, following up on his first career triple-double recorded two weeks ago against the Phoenix Suns.

Trey Murphy, who moved into 10th on the franchise’s all-time scoring list Tuesday, finished with 21 points.

CJ McCollum scored 23 points and had seven assists on a night the 3-pointers were falling for the Pels. They made 17 of 31 3-pointers.

The Pelicans (18-48) now have won 11 of their last 14 games against the Clippers (35-30).

They lost the first meeting this season in December 116-113 in a game Pelicans rookie center Yves Missi missed a free throw with 4.3 seconds left that could have sent it into overtime.

This time, they finished the deal.

The Pelicans used their 34th different starting lineup: Williamson, McCollum, Murphy, Bruce Brown and Missi.

Brown, who has struggled since the Pelicans acquired him in the Brandon Ingram trade, had his best game since arriving in New Orleans. He converted on a three-point play to start the game and scored 10 points in the first eight minutes. He finished with 12 points, his most with the Pelicans.

The Pelicans led by as many as 21 points in the first half but took just a 61-51 lead into halftime. The Clippers were 0-12 this season when trailing by 10 or more points at the half before Tuesday. That trend continued as the Pelicans withstood the Clippers’ third-quarter rally.

Mo Bamba, who the Pelicans signed to a 10-day contract on Monday, made his team debut. He didn’t score but grabbed seven rebounds.

The Clippers were without coach Ty Lue, who missed his second straight game because of back issues. Assistant coach Brian Shaw filled in for Lue as the Pelicans snapped the Clippers’ three-game winning streak.

Karlo Matkovic scored 15 points and Jose Alvarado scored 14 for the Pelicans, who will host the Orlando Magic on Thursday night.