After a sloppy, poor start to the night, the Pelicans put together arguably their best two quarters of the season to blow away the Blazers in a huge win on Tuesday, 138-117.
The Good: The third quarter
The Pelicans likely had their best quarter of the season on Tuesday to start the second half. After falling behind by 16 points in the first quarter, New Orleans outscored Portland 41-21 in the third quarter and turned a close game into an absolute blowout.
Over the final 37 minutes of the game, New Orleans scored 119 points. Between the second and third quarters, the Pelicans outscored Portland 78-50.
In the biggest game of the season, the Pelicans answered the bell and did so after falling behind by double digits. In a string of progressively impressive performances, Tuesday was likely the biggest win of the season.
Honorable mentions: Owning the series tiebreaker, Zion Freaking Williamson, JJ Redick
The Bad: The first quarter
It’s odd to point out a bad on a night with such a big win but the Pelicans were not much short of terrible in that first period. Through the opening 11 minutes of the game, New Orleans only had 19 points.
The good news was the bounce back from the poor quarter as the team locked down Damian Lillard (relatively speaking) with the All-Star finishing with 20 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the field.
Honorable Mentions:
The Ball: New hair, same game
Lonzo Ball sported a very different hair cut on Tuesday but it had no effect on his game. He finished with nine points, 10 assists and six rebounds and, though he went just 1-of-4 from the arc, was as active as he’s been all season.
His highlight of the night didn’t feature him scoring or assisting. During the wild third quarter, he knocked away a pass by the Blazers, tipped the ball ahead to Josh Hart to start a fast break, tipped out an offensive rebound on the ensuing missed shot and set up the Pelicans for a backbreaking three-pointer from JJ Redick.
It highlighted all of the great instincts Ball has paired with his athleticism and confidence he’s playing with.
