The New Orleans Pelicans are the first team of the 2018 playoffs to move into the second round after sweeping the Portland Trailblazers 4-0.
The New Orleans Pelicans fans were loud and vocal today. They screamed, they cheered, and they chanted M-V-P. The crowd at the Smoothie King Center was nothing short of spectacular these past two games. Not only did the Pelicans beat the Blazers in a best of seven series, they did so in a 4-0 fashion. The crowd in New Orleans deserves an honorable mention for showing up during this series.
The New Orleans Pelicans are advancing to the second round to face the winner of the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs series. Golden State leads that series 3-0. The Pelicans defeated the Blazers by a final score of 131-123. This was stunning, shocking and almost unheard of. No one, myself included, called the Pelicans to sweep the Blazers.
AD for M-V-P
Anthony Davis was his usual self 47 points (15-of-24 shooting), 11 rebounds, and blocks. Jrue Holiday mirrored Davis today with 41 points (15-of-23 shooting) and eight assists. Rajon Rondo added seven points, seven rebounds, and 16 assists. Nikola Mirotic had 10 points and 11 rebounds. All five Pelicans starters had a positive plus/minus in this game.
If you watched the game on TNT, you saw Davis field a couple questions from the TNT sideline reporter. Davis said two things that were vital to their drive this season. One he said that they (Pelicans) have battled adversity all season long.
He referenced DeMarcus Cousins saying people “counted them out” when he went down. The second question was about their possible second-round opponent Golden State. Davis said, “I would love to play them, last time we played them in the playoffs they swept us.”
Davis and Pelicans are focused, they are locked-in. The Blazers are not a bad team by any means. NOLA is simply playing on another level. We all know how great Anthony Davis is, we all remember Rondo’s glory days with Boston. However, no one could have foreseen Jrue Holiday having the series that he is having and Mirotic’s impact on this team.
Alvin Gentry deserves credit for Pelicans success
Also, head coach Alvin Gentry deserves credit for keeping this team focused on the task at hand. It would have been easy for this team to pack it up and say “We’ll be back next year.” Quite frankly, you really couldn’t blame the Pelicans if they did miss
Next: Pelicans one win for advancing
We will have plenty of time to break down the Golden State Warriors in the coming days. For now, I like the rest of NOLA am going to enjoy this win.