Deprived of one of their major players, Brandon Ingram / Zion Williamson on one side and Damian Lillard on the other, Pelicans and Blazers presented themselves for an interesting duel in the race for the last positions in the “bracket” of the West .
In truth, New Orleans made short work of Portland (127-110) after a rousing start to the game (42-25) and a huge performance from Trey Murphy III, author of his best career game at 41 points including 9/14 at 3-points.
It must be said that after their disappointing loss to Oklahoma City at home, the Pelicans wanted to redeem themselves. Willie Green’s men responded, quickly leading the scoreboard and up to 20 points clear in the first half. Then almost 40 in the fourth quarter…
The Blazers will fix the final score by closing the gap at the very end of the game, long after the exit of NOLA starters, including CJ McCollum (22 points, 11 assists) and Jonas Valanciunas (11 points, 12 rebounds), both in double-double without having to force.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
— Trey Murphy’s Game Record III. Just under a month ago, the boy was trying his hand at the Star Weekend Dunk Contest, but Trey Murphy III is more than a dunker. Able to fire anything, near the circle as well as behind the arc, the New Orleans winger simply had his best career game, with a first quarter at 15 points at 5/6 on shots, then 10 points in second and 14 in third…
— The tumble continues for Portland. Without their star point guard, the Blazers didn’t weigh much. The remaining “executives”, the Nurkic, Grant or Simons, were far too tender and inoffensive to hope to disturb Pels on a mission. With six defeats in their last eight games, Portland is clearly not in the right rhythm to grab one of the last playoff spots. We are rather on an uncontrolled tumble since the resumption of the All Star Break (3 wins for 7 losses). The absence of Damian Lillard this night confirmed, once again, that no other player of this squad seems capable of taking the lead…
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Trey Murphy III. At 13 points on average this season, he panicked the counters last night, achieving the best game of his young career, at 41 points including 9/14 from 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. He drove the Blazers’ already haphazard defense crazy…
✅ Herb Jones. A player of obscure tasks, he delivered one of the cleanest copies to take down the Blazers last night. The former Alabama finished with 16 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds, all at an excellent 7/7 from 2-pointers and 2/4 from 3-pointers.
⛔ Jerami Grant. Promising lieutenant of Lillard at the start of the season, Jerami Grant continues to unwind as the campaign progresses. The winger got through this night with only 7 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds, all at 2/7 on shots including 0/4 from afar.
⛔ Jusuf Nurkic. He is coming back from injury so he necessarily deserves a little indulgence, but the “Bosnian Beast” confirms, year after year, that we cannot really count on him to be one of the leaders of his team. Hood last night in ten minutes of play (0/5 on shots)…
THE FOLLOWING
New Orleans (33-35) : reception of the Lakers on Tuesday.
Portland (31-37) : reception of the Knicks on Tuesday.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
