New Orleans Pelicans Awards: Pelicans offense dominates game against Portland Trailblazers

The New Orleans Pelicans got their offense going tonight against the Portland Trailblazers to run away with a dominating 115-89 victory. Anthony Davis led the charge from start to finish, ending the game with 28 points, 12 rebounds, three offensive rebounds and three blocks. The Blazers were playing the game without Damian Lillard. 

The New Orleans Pelicans followed their win against the Denver Nuggets with a much more confident victory against the Portland Trailblazers. After a tight first quarter, the Pelicans at least 27 points in each of the final three quarters to run away from Portland and shore up a two-game winning streak. The Pelicans put their final stamp on the game with a 35-point fourth quarter. The Pelicans made 13-three pointers and scored 25 points off of 14 Blazer turnovers in the game. New Orleans also dominated the assists department, finishing with 27 assists in the game.

MVP: Anthony Davis

Jrue Holiday gave AD a fight for this honor tonight, but in the end Anthony Davis finished as the most valuable player of the game. His numbers were unreal, but it was his effect on the floor versus an inexperienced and unpolished Blazers frontcourt that he was able to take advantage of all night. He cleaned up on the glass even though Portland finished with more rebounds and was able to find an offensive rhythm against bigs that could not contest his shots in a way to get him cold. Add on his three blocks on close attempts and his confidence on both ends all night and you have an MVP performance once again from Anthony Davis.

LVP: Norris Cole

It’s still tough to watch Norris Cole try to play basketball with the second unit. Not only was he off from the floor, he made a few bad decisions that could have cost the Pelicans more when he was on the floor. He had a few fast breaks where the numbers were largely in New Orleans favor where he made no effort to pass the ball and tried a contested layup twice. The four fouls just capped off a really rough game for Norris, which is becoming a pattern this season.

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X-Factor: The offense finding the hot hand

In a pleasant surprise, the New Orleans Pelicans offense was locked in from the second quarter on. The Pelicans finished the game shooting 48.2% from the field and 41.9% from behind the three-point line, making 13 three-pointers. The past few games have been tough to watch from an offensive standpoint, so it was great to have a game where the Pelicans executed their offense to success and made their open looks.

Turning Point: The Second Quarter

The game seemed like it would be a painful scoring struggle all the way. However, New Orleans finally found their rhythm in the second quarter. The Pelicans outscored the Blazers 27-13 in the second quarter to enter halftime with a 17-point lead. The quarter really exemplified transition baskets started from fantastic defense on a team missing their best player. Strong defense led to good offense in this game, which was the key to the game.

Defining Moment: Anthony Davis taking over early in the fourth

While the Pelicans were still dominating after three quarters, the Blazers had brought the deficit down to just 15 points. It was possible they could come back. That was, until Anthony Davis took over the beginning of the final frame. Davis started the fourth quarter off with an and-one play, followed just a little later on with an alley-oop dunk from Jrue Holiday. There was no doubt on the verdict of the game tonight after those big players from the Pelicans best player.

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That was……..A breath of free air!

The New Orleans Pelicans have followed wins this year with very disappointing losses many of times, so it was nice to see this team follow a high with a great performance. They didn’t overthink things. They didn’t try to do too much. They just went out there and performed to their capabilities. That’s what they need to do every game. It was fantastic to see them pull it off tonight.