Five takeaways from the Clippers’ 133-105 win over the Pelicans

The Clippers (17-7) turned an underwhelming game into a 113-105 win over the New Orleans Pelicans (7-17) at Staples Center on Saturday night. The Clippers were without power forward Blake Griffin — the team expects him to be back in action on Monday — and the Pelicans rested star power forward Anthony Davis.

The Pelicans were also without starting point guard Jrue Holiday and shooting guard E’Twaun Moore, which allowed the Griffin-less Clippers to coast to the finish. Below are five takeaways from the action.

1. Seeing 20/20

Without Griffin and Felton, Chris Paul went from the team’s primary distributor to its only true one.

That led to 20 points, a season-high 20 assists and five rebounds. It was the first 20-point, 20-assist game of Paul’s career, and the NBA’s first 20-point, 20-assist, zero-turnover game since the 1977-78 season, which was the first year turnovers were recorded as an official statistic.

“Is that right? I didn’t know that, thank you for the history,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said after the game. “Visually it looked beautiful, I can tell you that.”

Paul assisted on three straight baskets, which came on three straight possessions, as the Clippers pulled away in the third quarter. He also made three of six three-point attempts and helped corral Pelicans’ point guard Tim Frazier after a quick start.

There was not much Paul didn’t do on Saturday, but he was not satisfied.

“I had enough turnovers in the past, like, three or four games,” Paul said, shaking his head, when told about the historical significance of his stat line.

2. Austin Rivers’ mild concussion

Austin Rivers was putting together one of his best games of the season — 18 points while making four of six threes — before he took an inadvertent arm to the head late in the third quarter.

Rivers laid on the court with his eyes closed for close to 20 seconds before slowly walking to the bench under his own power. He then slumped in his chair with a white towel over his face. He reentered the game at the start of the fourth quarter, but the lights and the crowd noise were bothering him and he was subbed out. He then headed to the locker room.

The Clippers said after the game that Rivers has a mild concussion. He started in Griffin’s place on Saturday and provided sound defense and was a second ball-handler alongside Paul. Doc Rivers is expecting to get point guard Raymond Felton, who has missed two games following the death of his grandmother, back for Monday’s game against the Trail Blazers.

“We need him,” the coach said, implicating that the Clippers are banged up.

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Coach Doc Rivers speaks at a news conference after the Clippers’ 133-105 win over the Pelicans.

3. Man in the middle

With Griffin and Davis looking on, Clippers center DeAndre Jordan was by far the best big man in the game. And he played like it, notching 19 points and nine rebounds.

Five of Jordan’s rebounds came on the offensive end, which was a big reason why the Clippers finished with 13 second-chance points. His 19 points tied the second-most he has scored this season; his season-high 21 came when Griffin rested against the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 29.

“I don’t tell them anything,” Doc Rivers said when asked whether he talked to players about making up for Griffin’s absence. “Just be yourself.”

4. Bench lift

Either way, the bench also helped make up for Griffin’s 20 points. The Clippers haven’t gotten the usual boost from their bench during a 2-5 stretch, but Jamal Crawford, Marreese Speights, Wesley Johnson and even Alan Anderson changed that against the Pelicans.

Crawford finished with a team-high 22 points, Speights have 17 and three threes, Johnson netted 10, and Anderson had a season-high seven. Paul Pierce and Brandon Bass also got limited minutes with the Clippers’ rotation in flux; neither forward scored.

5. No tech this time

The Clippers, after committing three technical fouls in a lopsided loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, did not have one on Saturday.

Before the game, Doc Rivers doubled down on saying that he does not see arguing with the referees as a problem for his team.

“I don’t mind the complaining, I just want them playing,” he said. “That’s one thing I’ve always said, you can complain all you want as long as you keep playing. I don’t want to get to a point where we’re complaining and not playing.”

jesse.dougherty@latimes.com

Follow Jesse Dougherty on Twitter @dougherty_jesse