The Portland Trail Blazers won their home opener for an NBA-best 17th-straight season, defeating the New Orleans Pelicans 103-93.
With the home-opener victory, the Blazers move to 3-1 on the year.
Q1
It was a sloppy first quarter for the Blazers.
Both teams shot poorly, and Portland was hurt when center Jusuf Nurkić picked up his third foul with 5:47 left. Nurk left with four points and four rebounds, and didn’t return until the second half.
There was a scary moment when Pelicans forward Anthony Davis left early in the first quarter after tweaking his knee. The Pelicans quickly announced that he was doubtful to return. Fortunately, an MRI performed in Portland came back negative, and Davis is now listed as day-to-day.
To cap an up-and-down quarter, rookie Caleb Swanigan had a huge block on Cheick Diallo that sent the Moda Center into a frenzy.
Despite not clicking on all cylinders, Portland led 29-19 after one.
Q2
Portland fans hoping to see this game turn into a Blazers blowout were quickly brought back down to Earth.
New Orleans shot the lights out in the second quarter, perhaps in part because of the foul trouble Nurkić found himself in early on. He didn’t play at all in the 2nd quarter.
In his absence, Meyers Leonard, Ed Davis, and Swanigan did a nice job picking up the slack. Davis in particular looked great, finishing the half with 10 points and seven boards.
As a team, the Blazers only shot 36% from the field and 26% from three. Making things worse, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum combined for only seven points in the first half.
The Blazers allowed the Pelicans to end the first half on a run, and couldn’t respond with a run of their own. The result: the Blazers were outscored by the Pelicans 29-18 in the second, and found themselves trailing 48-47 at half.
Q3
With no Anthony Davis , the Pelicans force-fed DeMarcus Cousins, and he feasted. Dame and CJ still couldn’t find their rhythms in the 3rd, and only finished the quarter with a combined 11 points.
Ed Davis and Evan Turner were the only Blazers in double figures. Blazers still shot poorly in the 3rd and looked out of whack on the offensive end. The Blazers were staring down the wrong end of a 73-71 deficit going into the fourth.
Q4
The Blazers’ two biggest stars, Lillard and McCollum, were quiet all game until the fourth.
CJ rattled off 13 points to start the quarter, including two big back-to-back threes to put the Blazers up 87-81. Then Dame hit a three to put the Blazers up 92-81.
The Pelicans made one last run, but with the Blazers up 96-93, Dame was fouled on a 3-point attempt. He hit all three, and the Blazers went up 99-93, more or less sealing the win.
Final Thoughts
All in all, the Blazers pulled out a win in a game that they probably would have let slip away last season.
Portland still has no answer for Cousins, who finished with 39 points and 13 rebounds. He took over for the Pelicans with Anthony Davis out, and looked great doing it.
While it was a sloppy game for three quarters, the Portland at least looked really good in the fourth. They also won the first home game of the season with both Dame and Nurk being less than their usual awesome selves.
Speaking of Nurkić, the three fouls he picked up in the first quarter really threw off his game. He’s got to find a way to stay out of foul trouble.
The Pelicans guards played annoying, gnat-like defense all game, and that really seemed to bother Dame and CJ.
A bright spot: with Portland’s best players off their game, everyone else stepped up.
Big-3 stats
Damian Lillard – 13 points (3-16 FG), five rebounds, seven assists.
C.J McCollum – 23 points, four rebounds, two assists.
Jusuf Nurkic – 12 points, seven rebounds, one steal.
Three Takeaways
Caleb Swanigan played meaningful minutes, and looked good doing it.
Portland rookie Caleb Swanigan played 15 minutes tonight. He finished with five points, eight rebounds, three assists, and that awesome first-quarter block. He also was in the lineup for most of the fourth quarter, which is encouraging.
He’s a smart, physical rebounder, and a guy that can space the floor for a Blazers team that needs it. It was encouraging to see him play down the stretch of a close game.
Ed Davis is BACK.
It was a pretty sloppy night for Portland, but one of the bright spots all game was Ed Davis. He finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and a block in 21 minutes of play.
Davis provides the Blazers with so much energy that the whole team gets hyped. Davis does all the dirty work, and is going to be key for the Blazers this season.
The Blazers have a bench!
For the past few seasons, one of the weakest parts of the Blazers was their bench. Tonight, when Dame went 3-16 from the field, the bench was key in getting the win.
The Blazers had 43 bench points and 34 bench rebounds, led by Ed Davis with 12 and ten, and by Turner who had 13 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
If this keeps up, Coach Stotts can play about ten guys on a nightly basis, which is great. Tonight, the backup big men needed to step with Nurk limited with foul trouble, and they did just did that.
Next Game
The Blazers play Thursday in Portland against the Los Angeles Clippers at 7 p.m. PT.