* Tonight on TNT: Trail Blazers vs. Pelicans (5 ET)
In a league where the term ‘Big 3’ is tossed around liberally, veteran New Orleans Pelicans point guard Rajon Rondo has a perspective on the phenomenon some people might not understand. Rondo played with the original Big 3 of this current era as a young point guard for the Boston Celtics led by Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. So when he says that the Pelicans had the league’s most powerful trio this season before DeMarcus Cousins suffered a season-ending Achilles injury, it should’ve had you pause.
The Pelicans might have the best Big 3 of this postseason with the way Rondo, All-Star big man Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday have played through the first three games of their staggering first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers. The Pelicans have a chance to finish the sweep in Game 4 today (5 p.m. ET, TNT). Like everyone else, Rondo is left to wonder what might have been if Cousins was still available. Will Guillory of Nola.com has more:
The Pelicans came into the season with a roster built around the NBA’s most overpowering frontcourt combination — Antony Davis and Cousins — and arguably one of the league’s best two-way players in guard Jrue Holiday.
The trio was still figuring out how to work together after Cousins was traded to New Orleans during All-Star weekend last season, but they showed flashes of greatness before the big man suffered a ruptured lest Achilles’ tendon that brought his season to an end.
Veteran point guard Rajon Rondo said at Friday’s practice that before Cousins’ injury the Pelicans had the NBA’s best Big 3, and their potential was the main reason he decided to sign a one-year deal with New Orleans last summer.
“That was my biggest reason why I wanted to come here,” Rondo said. “Obviously, (Cousins) went down, but the weapons they had before I got here with the Big 3 — Jrue, A.D. and Cuz — I thought they were the best Big 3 in the league, by far. At a point, right before Cuz got hurt, that was my argument. Hands down, we had the best Big 3.”
