The Portland Trail Blazers and New Orleans Pelicans enter tonight’s game in the middle of the Western Conference.
The Blazers hope to begin December the absolute opposite way they ended November. They are coming off a tough 103-91 home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday. The team has a day off to prepare for the visiting New Orleans Pelicans.
Saturday’s game will be at the Moda Center; tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. PT.
The Blazers are 13-9 overall and 7-3 over their last ten games. Against New Orleans, Portland looks to successfully defend home-court for the first time since Nov. 18.
They currently sit at fifth in the Western Conference – 4.5 games back from first-place Houston Rockets and two games ahead of Utah in eighth.
Meanwhile, the Pelicans are currently seventh in the West with an 11-10 record. Not including tonight’s game against Utah, New Orleans is 5-5 in their last ten games, featuring wins over the Spurs and the Thunder. However, they were defeated by the Warriors and Timberwolves this week, both by at least 15 points.
Starting lineups
There’s no word on whether or not Al-Farouq Aminu will be plugged into the starting lineup on Saturday. He just returned from injury versus the Bucks after missing 13 games with an ankle injury.
Terry Stotts usually doesn’t abandon a plan after one loss, especially since this same starting lineup helped the team win four of five games on the recent road trip.
PG: Damian Lillard | SG: CJ McCollum | SF: Pat Connaughton | PF: Noah Vonleh | C: Jusuf Nurkić
As for the Pelicans, they essentially start games with two point guards on the floor. Rondo and Holiday have meshed well in occasional games this season, but are lackluster on defense. This has caused Moore to fill in more-so on the wing to help support Davis and Cousins.
PG: Rajon Rondo | SG: Jrue Holiday | SF: E’Twaun Moore | PF: Anthony Davis | C: DeMarcus Cousins
Players to watch
Jusuf Nurkić and Meyers Leonard
These two are grouped for one reason: DeMarcus Cousins. The biggest question revolves around Nurkić’s ability to defend the All-Star center. On top of that, both will also have to deal with Anthony Davis, another All-Pro frontcourt player for New Orleans.
Obviously, Nurkić is a much better player and defender than Leonard and has much more importance to the team. It’s Leonard’s history with Cousins and his ability to stretch the floor that makes him potentially vital in this matchup.
He’s gotten into a couple of heated scuffles and exchanges with Cousins over the past couple of seasons, most notably in 2016. Cousins was ejected then un-ejected after appearing to spit his mouth piece in the direction of Leonard.
As for Nurkić, coming out of the gates and setting the tone early will be crucial. How aggressive is Cousins going to be, and how will Nurkić counter? Can he contain Boogie while also protecting the paint and producing offensively?
Nurkić certainly has the ability to do both against any center on any given night, but Cousins is much different. The third piece of the “Big 3” will have the most eyes on him, and his output could decide who wins the game.
Jrue Holiday
Jameer Nelson is a firecracker off the bench for New Orleans this season. It’s possible he breaks out tonight because of his history of knocking down shots against the Blazers (last season versus the Nuggets, anyone?).
Don’t forget about Holiday, however. He has slowly been finding his footing for this team and is becoming their floor general. He’s averaging nearly 16 points, four rebounds, and six assists per game this year. With both McCollum and Lillard (thought not so much Lillard this season) being poor on-ball defenders, Portland risks Holiday controlling the game.
Next: Al-Farouq Aminu's role after returning
If Holiday can penetrate easily or shoot open jumpers, the Blazers could be in trouble. This would give Holiday the option to keep it with his hot hand or dish it off inside to Cousins or Davis.
Limiting what Holiday does will help Portland keep the other stars in check. Cutting down the turnovers and taking smart shots also help, as Holiday and Rondo can’t run the fast break as often, a stat which killed the Blazers last night against the Bucks.