Pelicans paste Blazers for 3-0 lead

The third-seeded Portland Trail Blazers are on the road as they try to stave off elimination and send the series back west in Game 4 of their best of seven Western Conference series with the sixth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans Saturday afternoon. He exploited Rajon Rondo and Jrue Holiday’s defensive skills to lead the team to a top five playoff defensive rating (98.8).

Mirotic is shooting 50 percent (4-of-8) and Davis 61.5 percent (16-of-26) this series when primarily guarded by Nurkic, according to National Basketball Association data. If there’s any time for them to give it all they’ve got, it’s got to come in Game 3. Lillard will need to come out playing like he has for most of the season of the Blazers are nearly certainly going out in the first round. Aminu leads in rebounds with 11.0 while Lillard tops in assists with 5.5 per game. He even did a reasonable job of containing Anthony Davis on defense.

Mo Harkless – Harkless’ effective play in his first game back from knee surgery was a welcome surprise for the Blazers.

People in the city are starting to catch Pelicans Fever, even if they aren’t exactly sure who they’re cheering for. Lillard had another slow start and fans could be heard grumbling as he missed several shots and seemed to lack his usual lift on drives to the hoop.

Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 30 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. The Pelicans had a 32-13 edge in fast break points in Game 3.

“It was great”, said Gentry of the sellout crowd.

“So then you look at the way Jrue Holiday, who’d played point all his life, has played off the ball this year, and he was spectacular in that 12-2 run at the very end”. Juvenile halftime shows. I’ll be here for it and New Orleans will too, and we’ll tell our kids about it too.

While other playoff-debuts have gone well – Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum – Nurkic struggles versus New Orleans. “He’s just a guy that really has command of the team”.

Lillard said he expected more out of himself. Defensively, the Pelicans are yielding 110.4 points per game. The Pelicans shot superbly in the game -.529 from the field, .407 from 3-point range, .864 from the free-throw line.

“It’s two and three layers of defence, it’s tough to play against”.

The Pelicans’ game plan, trapping screens and double-teaming the Blazers guards, has left Lillard frustrated and searching for answers.

Things do not look good for our home team at this point.

Turner had been listed as questionable after injuring a toe on his right foot during Game 2 on Tuesday night.

“I’ve seen traps. Two years ago in the playoffs, the Clippers trapped me pretty hard”. So it’s not impossible, but the odds are long.

“I should be first team All-NBA”, he said in an interview with SBNation earlier in April. The entire season had almost been written off before the Blazers came storming back to claim the 3rd seed in the west.

That’s the kind of play that crushes a team. A backcourt that averaged 48.3 points per game throughout the regular season has been limited to just 38 points per game through two.Holiday has two steals and two blocks in this series, including a monster block down the stretch of Game 1 that sealed it, with Holiday catching up to Pat Connaughton to put the ball back off the backboard in chase-down fashion.