The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 102-93 on Monday night in another impressive comeback at the Moda Center. The Blazers improve to 8-3 on the season and are now sporting a five-game winning streak. The Pelicans fall to 5-4.
First off, the Pelicans are scary. Anthony Davis is going to be the best player in the NBA in three to four years. Sorry, Kevin Durant, but Davis is doing things on a basketball court that are ridiculous. New Orleans is finally getting a supporting cast around Davis in the form of Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans and Ryan Anderson. The Pelicans are rising and rising fast. While this team is still shaky and young, the Pelicans can give any team a run on any given night. This is no longer a free win. The Pelicans are a challenge, especially for the Blazers. However, Portland would get some help as Omer Asik would sit out due to back pain. If Asik played, this would have been a different story, in my opinion. No longer could Portland just leave the paint on defense and no longer could Portland think of using the paint as a scoring option.
In the first quarter, the Blazers quickly jumped out to an 8-0 lead looking poised to take command early. Good defense forced the Pelicans into taking mid-range shots and there were rarely good looks at the rim, at least for the first couple of minutes of this ball game. This game featured the return of LaMarcus Aldridge who was dealing with a cold in the last couple of days. Nicolas Batum (right knee contusion) was out once again, but probably for his final game as the Blazers do not play again until Friday. Allen Crabbe got the start.
However, after a quick timeout, the Pelicans jumped right back. The Blazers outscored New Orleans 22-21, but considering how Portland started the game, it was not a comfortable position to be in. Portland shot 46% from the field, while the Pelicans shot 43%. Both teams got into their offense and the ball movement was evident in all aspects. Holiday led the way as he scored eight points on 4-for-5 shooting in the quarter. Davis scored six points on 3-for-5 shooting and already had a blocked shot. To put this into perspective, in his last ten games, he is averaging 25.2 points, 11.7 rebounds, 4.0 blocks and 2.3 steals a game. He is only 21. Again, sorry Durant, I think you are about to get leapfrogged.
Aldridge in his first shift back had six points in the quarter on 3-for-7 shooting. The highest scorer of the quarter was none other than Chris Kaman who had seven points on 3-for-3 shooting and three rebounds.
The second quarter was all New Orleans. After fighting hard and trading buckets with the Pelicans, the turnover monster hit Portland hard. They had six turnovers in the quarter resulting in nine points for New Orleans. Furthermore, Portland shot 50%, but only attempted 16 shots. New Orleans shot 57%, but they had five extra shots, plus the turnovers. Balanced scoring for Portland as all four bench players who got minutes this quarter scored two points. Damian Lillard led the way with five points on 2-for-3 shooting.
Portland did a nice job on Anderson early by getting out and not giving him any kind of open look. He went 0-for-3 in his first attempts, but in the second quarter, he got open. He had 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting, 2-for-3 from three. If Anderson even smells an open shot, he tends to make it.
Besides the turnovers, the Pelicans also started moving the ball more. They were able to get Anderson open in his spots, made Portland run around on defense, as well getting better looks instead of settling for the mid-range. Again, however, Portland handed them nine extra points due to sloppy passing or slippery hands.
The third quarter was all Pelicans once again. After Portland closed the gap on a Lillard three-point play to end the first half to cut New Orleans’ lead to seven, the Pelicans came out hot. After missing their first shot of the quarter, New Orleans made six straight shots to push the lead by to 16. Similar to the Brooklyn game, the Pelicans shot 68% from the field going 13-for-19. Davis was 7-for-7 with 14 points. Portland seemed to struggle, but they still shot 50% from the field going 10-for-20. Lillard had nine points on 2-for-7 shooting, 1-for-3 from three. Turnovers were still toxic as Portland had four in the quarter, resulting in four points for New Orleans. However, they started closing the gap at the end of the third and only had a 12-point lead to overcome after a tipped shot by Kaman to end the quarter.
What can I say, the Blazers flipped a switch. The Blazers outscored the Pelicans 34-13 to take this game away from New Orleans. Portland shot 56% from the field and 67% from three, while New Orleans only shot 17% going 4-for-24 and did not make a single three-pointer. Take about a turnaround. Portland’s defense tightened up and the youth of the Pelicans started showing. While the ball movement was evident in the second and third quarters, the Pelicans went one-on-one for most of the quarter as Holiday and Evans attempted to score and slash to the paint. Those two players combined to go 0-for-14 with just two points. I present this thought, when a team has a guy like Davis and he has been effective from everywhere, why not give him the ball every time down? He only attempted five shots and missed three of them. Holiday himself attempted nine shots. Not something a team likes to see out of its point guard.
Part of this was Portland’s defense. Steve Blake played the whole fourth quarter once again and his defense was sensational. Having to guard Holiday is no picnic as he is a long and athletic player. However, Blake was able to contain him or at the very least force him into shots that he was uncomfortable with. However, some of the shots that the Pelicans missed were just bad luck. They did get a couple open looks at the rim, but the ball rolled off or rimmed out. Aldridge came alive with 10 points on 3-for-5 shooting and five rebounds in the fourth quarter. Lillard, Blake, C.J. McCollum and Wesley Matthews all hit clutch three-pointers. Lillard hit one to give Portland a three-point lead with 1:14 left. Robin Lopez was also part of the catalyst. He finished with six points on 2-for-2 shooting with four rebounds and one blocked shot. Lopez looked determined and made his presence felt. A person could tell the energy of the team shot up once Lopez got back into the game. He played great defense as well as hitting a few momentum-swinging hook shots.
What was most impressive was how poised and how confident Portland was down the stretch. Everything they needed to do get a win, they did. The Blazers hit their free throws at the end to further the lead and got the defensive stops needed. The maturity and growth of this team is showing in spades. Furthermore, the depth of this team is showing that the starters do have a lot more energy when needed and are not winded when the game needs them the most.
Turnovers were also better as Portland only turned it over twice. Again, Portland just outplayed the Pelicans in every way. The most telling stat of the quarter: Portland had nine assists, the Pelicans had zero.
This was an impressive game for Portland. Not only did they secure a win against a good team, but it was how they secured it. Guts and grind was the story. Head coach Terry Stotts has been masterful at putting in different lineups and looks that force teams into adapting. At one point he went small with Kaman playing the five and four guards in the game. Because Stotts has weapons, a person never knows what lineup is going to be put on the floor.
Portland shot 50% from the field for the game and 37% from three. It seems that the three-ball suddenly finds the basket in the fourth quarter for Portland. Portland was 3-for-13 from three in the first through third quarters. However, in the fourth they were 4-for-6. Portland outrebounded the Pelicans 43-41 and out-assisted them 20-16. They also made their free throws going 19-for-23.
However, like I said, turnovers were a huge problem in the middle of the game. Portland had 18 total and the Pelicans scored a whopping 21 points. If Portland had not turned the ball over, this game would have been over in the third quarter. Multiple possessions saw the ball slip through fingers or get slapped out of players’ hands. While Portland is not as bad as Golden State when it comes to turnovers, they still need to clean it up as it almost cost them this game.
Portland’s highest scorer was Lillard who had 24 points on 7-for-18 shooting, 2-for-7 from three with seven assists, four rebounds and two steals. Lillard came back to earth a little bit in terms of his shooting percentage, but he still was deadly especially from the FT line going 8-for-8.
Aldridge did well his first game back. He finished with 22 points on 9-for-18 shooting with nine rebounds. Kaman provided 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting and 10 rebounds. When a team has a guy coming off the bench who threatens a double-double every night, it does wonders for the rotation and for the pulse of a game.
Blake finished with five points on 2-for-2 shooting, 1-for-1 from three with seven assists and two rebounds. Blake has turned into the comeback catalyst as both games where Portland has needed one; he has played most if not all of the fourth quarter. Not only does he usually hit a momentum-swinging three, but his defense tends to be the factor that gets Portland back in games. Needless to say, Blake has been outstanding for Portland.
The Blazers get three days off before their next game. So, they have time to heal up from injuries and colds as well as get prepared for a tough team. The Chicago Bulls come to town on Friday night at the Moda Center at 7:30 p.m. PST for their first and only visit to the Rose City. The Bulls, in my opinion, are the best team in the east right now. A person can talk about the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the Bulls seem to be gelling a lot quicker. With a sneaky, but perhaps best off-season acquisition in Pau Gasol, the Bulls now sport the best passing frontline in the NBA with Joakim Noah as his partner. Whether Derrick Rose will be healthy to play remains to be seen, but it hardly matters. This team, unfortunately, has learned how to play without Rose and have done it well that they are dangerous even without Rose. Portland will need to be ready as they have yet to lose on the road as of this post. Stay tuned!