New Orleans Pelicans potential playoff match-up: Portland Trailblazers
By Joshua Lea
The NBA regular season is quickly coming to a close and the New Orleans Pelicans seem to be on a collision course with one of two Western Conference teams.
The New Orleans Pelicans are coming off a lopsided loss to Houston last night 114-91. The Pelicans were without Rajon Rondo due to a sprained wrist and Nikola Mirotic missed the game due to a right hip flexor strain.
Now, this game would have been tough even with Rondo and Mirotic. However, without them, the New Orleans Pelicans were simply outmatched by the Rockets.
Jrue Holiday struggled shooting the ball against the Rockets going 5-of-17 for a total of 10 points. This is the stat of the night for this game. Without Rondo or Mirotic, Holiday has to shoot the ball better against a team as tough as the Houston Rockets.
On Tuesday, the Pelicans will host the Portland Trailblazers in the big easy. The third-place Blazers are coming off a disappointing loss to the Boston Celtics on Friday 105-100. Prior to that, the Blazers lost to the Houston Rockets on March 20th, 115-111.
The Blazers could very well be a first-round opponent for the Pelicans. This is a team that has a few weapons, and they have a guy named Damian Lillard, I’m sure you’ve heard of him.
Portland is a guard-heavy, three-point shooting team with a big man in the paint that lives of put-backs in Jusuf Nurkic. However, this season Portland is incorporating Nurkic into their offense using the pick-and-roll.
The Portland Trailblazers by the numbers.
Portland averages 106 points a game, ranking them 15th in the league. They allow opponents 105 points a game, ranking them 5th in the league. The backcourt duo of Lillard and C.J. McCollum is the bread-and-butter for Portland offense. They attribute to 48.2 points of Portlands total offensive output per game.
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Portland makes its money doing two things in the NBA at all teams should do. One, they average 53 rebounds per game, 35 of those are defensive. Two, Portland shoots 38.7 percent from three this season. That’s third best in the NBA.
The match-up of Lillard and Rajon Rondo should be an outstanding battle. Both players are skilled at what they do, Rondo is still an exceptional defender and will give Lillard fits on the defensive end of the floor. C.J. McCollum will be matched with Jrue Holiday. Davis will likely be matched with Nurkic.
This is a series that could benefit Nikola Mirotic greatly. Portland has a sub-par bench unit with Evan Turner, Ed Davis, and Shabazz Napier. As a result, the New Orleans Pelicans second unit with Mirotic, Cheick Diallo, and Darius Miler could have big games against this Portland team.
Portland’s playoff past and the future with Damian Lillard
Last season, the Portland Trailblazers were swept by the World Champion Golden State Warriors 4-0. The year before that, the Blazers lost to the Warriors on five. The last time the Blazers made the conference finals was the 1999-00 season.
Damian Lillard is the face of the Portland Trailblazers. The California native has said on multiple occasions he wants to be the greatest Portland Trailblazer player of all-time. It’s not out of the question to think that he can accomplish this. He’s already making a strong impact on the culture in Portland. Some of you might remember in the mid-2000’s when Portland had the nickname “The JailBlazers”.
Yes, that’s terrible, I know. However, the Blazers are a long way from those days. Lillard is a big part of that. Lillard is to Portland what Anthony Davis is to New Orleans.
Next: Game Day Preview: NOLA vs Houston
This could no doubt be an outstanding series if it becomes a reality for the first round of the NBA playoffs.