Portland dominates Pelicans in 119-100 Blowout

Posted on by David Grubb

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: the Pelicans, playing without Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, dug themselves into a massive first-half hole and never climbed out. The Portland Trail Blazers had their way in the Smoothie King Center on Wednesday night, cruising to a 119-100 victory over a New Orleans squad that looked lethargic, disjointed, and at times disinterested.

With Zion sitting out as a precaution on the second night of a back-to-back and Ingram missing his 14th straight game, the Pelicans were overwhelmed from the jump. Portland opened the game on a 17-5 run and didn’t look back. Their offense was firing on all cylinders, led by Deni Avdija’s 26 points and Shaedon Sharpe’s 21. By halftime, the Blazers had built a staggering 75-42 lead, the largest first-half deficit of the season for New Orleans. Portland shot an absurd 67.4% from the field in the first half and racked up 62 points in the paint for the game, effortlessly slicing through the Pelicans’ defense.

Meanwhile, New Orleans couldn’t get out of its own way. Turnovers continued to plague the Pelicans, with eight giveaways in the second quarter alone, leading to 10 easy points for the Blazers. By the time the final buzzer sounded, New Orleans had turned the ball over 19 times, translating into 18 Portland points. Even when they managed to hold onto the ball, they couldn’t shoot it, with the Pels managing just 44.4% overall and 32.4% from three-point range.

Another Step Back

This game stood in stark contrast to the Pelicans’ most recent games. While they’ve mostly been competitive in their defeats, Wednesday’s performance was a massive step backward. The team looked unprepared and, at times, outright disinterested, prompting boos from a small, but vocal home crowd.

CJ McCollum did what he could to keep New Orleans afloat, bouncing back from a poor performance against Minnesota to score a team-high 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting, including three three-pointers. Dejounte Murray shot the ball fairly well, scoring 20 points for the second consecutive game with five assists while shooting an efficient 8-of-14 from the floor. But outside of those two, the Pelicans got no other significant contributnions.

The Pelicans top four reserves, Jose Alvarado, Brandon Boston, Javonte Green, and Jordan Hawkins, combined to shoot 13-for-43 (30.2%), including just 5-for-20 (.250) on three-point attempts.

The lineup took another hit when Herb Jones exited in the third quarter with a right shoulder injury. Jones has already missed 18 games this season due to a similar issue.

What’s Next?

The Pelicans are now 7-31 overall and 5-16 at home, with no clear answers in sight. This loss marked their 22nd defeat in the last 25 games, a slump that’s testing the patience of even the most loyal fans.

One night after showing flashes of competitiveness against Minnesota, New Orleans delivered one of its most lackluster efforts of the season. Portland, a team barely treading water in the Western Conference, won three of four games against the Pelicans this year, with two of those wins coming in blowout fashion.

With Zion and Ingram’s availability still uncertain and Herb Jones possibly heading for another extended absence, it’s hard to see where the Pelicans go from here.

Next up for the Pelicans is a three-game road trip that starts in Philadelphia against the 76ers on Friday. New Orleans will then travel to Boston to face the defending champion Celtics before a rematch against the Chicago Bulls.

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