The Portland Trail Blazers have secured the West’s fourth seed, but are locked in a battle for the coveted first-round home court advantage. The New Orleans Pelicans, meanwhile, are jostling with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the eigth and final playoff spot in the conference.
With both teams having plenty to lose, the Trail Blazers rose to the moment, weathering Pelicans run after Pelicans run en route to the 99-90 victory. The win gives the Trail Blazers their second consecutive 50-win season, and they now find themselves just 1.5 games shy of the Memphis Grizzlies and the West’s third seed.
Recap
The Trail Blazers opened the game looking a bit tired after their game in Los Angeles the night before. Although both theams were playing the second night of a back-to-back, the Pelicans were energized in hopes of breaking into the Western Conference top-8 with a win. The Trail Blazers spent most of the first quarter playing catch-up, after allowing the Pelicans to take an early double-digit lead.
Once the Trail Blazers made substitutions, they did more than just catch up. C.J. McCollum and Chris Kaman played spectacularly off the bench, with the kind of aggression that had been missing from the game. McCollum drove again and again, while Kaman cleaned the glass. This resulted in a season-high matching 16 points for Kaman, mostly on second chance opportunities (six offensive rebounds) throughout the course of the game.
Of course, as has become a familiar sight, the Trail Blazers struggled to hold the lead in the second half. A string of unfortunate calls had the Trail Blazers heated while the Pelicans gained ground. Robin Lopez was upset enough to earn a technical. Terry Stotts called for time to settle his team, but the Portland lead was trimmed to one by the end of the third quarter.
It appeared as if another implosion could be coming as the Pelicans took the lead, but the Trail Blazers battled back to play neck-and-neck down the stretch. It wasn’t until the final minutes that the Trail Blazers firmly regained control and put the Pelicans away. This game was much closer than the score reflects, but sometimes just three minutes of outstanding basketball at the right time is all it takes to create insurmountable separation.
Players
LaMarcus Aldridge has trouble getting going with Anthony Davis in his face, but who doesn’t? His 21 points and 12 rebounds were impressive, if understated, in this hard-fought contest.
Damian Lillard‘s 19 points and four dimes came quietly enough as well. There was some careless passing early on that gave me pause, but he righted the ship for a respectable showing.
C.J. McCollum continues his tear of better-than-average games, giving Trail Blazers fans everywhere hope that he will play meaningful minutes come playoff time.
Chris Kaman had his best all around performance of the year, tying a season-high 16 points on 7-10 shooting and also collecting 11 rebounds without a single turnover. In fact, he had two steals.
Notes
- The Trail Blazers tied a season-high 18 offensive rebounds, coming mostly from Kaman and Lopez, who had six apiece.
- The Trail Blazers actually shot a worse percentage on even fewer shots than the Pelicans, but made up for it with aggression that resulted in a favorable free throw disparity (POR: 21-13, NOP: 5-10).
Portland now gets a quick day of rest before traveling to Brooklyn, where they will make up January’s game that was rescheduled due to inclement weather.