WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND
No. 3 Portland (49-33) vs. No. 6 New Orleans (48-34)
It’s the Crescent City against “Rip City.”
It’s the French Quarter vs. the Rose Quarter.
It’s the Gulf South facing the Pacific Northwest.
It’s the team that compiled its best finish in the Southwest Division in a decade, squaring off with a squad that earned a Northwest Division title for the first time since 2014-15.
It’s the only 2018 first-round NBA playoff series featuring a pair of top-five scorers.
The Western Conference best-of-seven quarterfinal matchup between the seemingly evenly-matched New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers should hold considerable intrigue for basketball fans, starting with those eager to see two headliners: Pelicans five-time All-Star big Anthony Davis, in his second career trip to the postseason; and Trail Blazers three-time All-Star guard Damian Lillard, one of the league’s most consistently clutch performers.
Yet New Orleans couldn’t have compiled its most regular season wins since '09, a second-place status in its division or its best West playoff seed since ’08 on the MVP-caliber play of Davis (No. 2 in NBA at 28.1 ppg) alone. Portland wouldn’t have won its second division crown in the past 18 years on the strength of excellence from only Lillard (No. 4 in NBA, 26.9 ppg). Contributions from the likes of New Orleans’ starting backcourt of Jrue Holiday and Rajon Rondo, as well as those of in-season trade acquisition Nikola Mirotic, helped the Pelicans emerge as one of the NBA’s best teams in the second half of the season, closing on a 20-8 tear after Feb. 10. Similarly, the play of Lillard’s tag-team backcourt partner, C.J. McCollum, along with unheralded types such as Jusuf Nurkic, Al-Farouq Aminu and Evan Turner, made the Trail Blazers an increasingly dangerous team as the season progressed, highlighted by a February/March 13-game winning streak and a virtually identical finish to New Orleans – Portland went 18-8 after Feb. 10.
Like their overall won-loss records, the season series between the Pelicans and Trail Blazers was exceptionally close, with the clubs splitting four games evenly. Both teams won once on the other’s home floor (Pelicans prevailed Dec. 2 at Moda Center; Blazers triumphed March 27 in the Smoothie King Center), setting up a playoff showdown many NBA analysts project to be a lengthy and compelling one.
Here’s a look at the projected lineups for both teams:
POINT GUARD
Rajon Rondo vs. Damian Lillard
New Orleans’ most experienced player in every category, Rondo has developed a reputation – beginning with his starting role for the ’08 NBA champion Celtics – as a player at his best when games are most important, hence the term “Playoff Rondo.” Lillard also has put together an impressive postseason resume in just five-plus seasons, leading Portland to opening-round series wins in ’14 and ’16. The Weber State product became a household name in basketball when he captured the Rookie of the Year award in ’13, then sank one of the most memorable shots in recent NBA history the following spring, eliminating Houston with an off-balance, buzzer-beating three-pointer to seal Game 6. The on-court characteristics and playing styles of Rondo and Lillard are divergent, however – Rondo is a pass-first floor general who focuses on getting teammates open looks, while Portland leans on Lillard to carry a significant scoring load. Based on his knack for burning New Orleans in the clutch – and everyone else around the NBA – Lillard is a feared perimeter shooter, but Rondo tends not to fire from deep unless he’s left wide open.
SHOOTING GUARD
Jrue Holiday vs. C.J. McCollum
Ask players around the NBA to name the league’s most underrated players, and there is a good chance you’ll hear these two names often. Holiday has broken out in ’17-18 with his best season since coming to New Orleans via trade five years ago – not coincidentally, it’s also been his healthiest campaign (he played in 81 regular season games, only missing a mid-March contest due to illness). Holiday has been a force on both ends of the floor, averaging 19.0 points and becoming a bigger factor defensively around the rim than you’d ever expect for a 6-foot-4 guard. The UCLA product ranked third in the NBA in total blocks (64) among all guards, placing behind only Ben Simmons and Danny Green. Meanwhile, McCollum first became a familiar name to hoops fans in college, when his Lehigh squad upset Duke and Austin Rivers in the NCAA Tournament. McCollum averaged 21.4 points during the regular season, connecting on 39.7 percent of his three-point attempts. Always under control, never playing too fast, McCollum is a master of the mid-range shot, something of a lost art as teams hunt for threes and dunks.
SMALL FORWARD
E’Twaun Moore vs. Evan Turner
Why do New Orleans and Portland rely so heavily on small lineups? The fact that both teams have a versatile wing who can log minutes at the three spot – despite being relatively undersized for the position – is a big reason. At 6-foot-4, Moore often gives up several inches defensively, but has held up well as a starter for the Pelicans in 80 games. In the midst of the best season of his NBA career, the ’16 free-agent signee has been near the top of the league all season in three-point percentage and finished 11th among all players, at 42.5 percent, one spot ahead of Stephen Curry. Moore’s reliance on the three ball contrasts him greatly from Turner, who only attempted 132 treys during the regular season and connected on just 31.8 percent. Like his teammate McCollum, Turner does a chunk of his offensive damage in the mid-range area. A four-year member of the Philadelphia 76ers early this decade, Turner is close friends with ex-teammate Holiday.
POWER FORWARD
Nikola Mirotic vs. Al-Farouq Aminu
You could easily list these two as the biggest X-factors for each team. Mirotic had an up-and-down two months with New Orleans after being acquired in a February trade from Chicago, but turned in his best stretch in April, with the Pelicans facing must-win situations every night. After shaving his familiar beard 10 days ago, Mirotic scored 20-plus points during each game of his team’s active five-game winning streak, going 20/43 from three-point range. The native of Montenegro was among the league leaders in three-point accuracy with Chicago prior to the trade, before a dip in February and March. Meanwhile, Aminu’s athleticism and activity are familiar to New Orleans fans – the Wake Forest product spent three seasons playing for the then-Hornets and Pelicans. Aminu is an excellent defender and rebounder, with the latter skill hurting New Orleans in head-to-head matchups vs. Portland this season. NOLA supporters may not recognize this version of Aminu’s offensive game – as a third-year pro, he only took 19 three-point attempts in 2,066 minutes. In 2,072 minutes with Portland this season, he launched 339 treys. Don’t be fooled by the sky-high path of his shot, because at 36.9 percent in ’17-18, Aminu has become above-average from long distance.
CENTER
Anthony Davis vs. Jusuf Nurkic
Davis is a difficult defensive assignment for a wide range of opposing bigs, but it can be even more challenging for the 7-foot, 280-pound Nurkic. That’s one reason Portland often cross-matches Aminu onto Davis, while putting Nurkic on someone else. New Orleans lineups were more suitable for Nurkic when DeMarcus Cousins was in uniform, but now the Trail Blazers will often go small in order to match up with the Pelicans. In three of the four games vs. New Orleans this season, the native of Bosnia logged 24 or fewer minutes. Davis is in the midst of the best season of his decorated six-year NBA career, having carried New Orleans on his back for portions of ’17-18, particularly after Cousins was sidelined with an Achilles injury. The Western Conference Player of the Month for April actually put up his finest individual numbers in February, averaging a gaudy 35.0 points and 13.0 rebounds per game. Nurkic’s statistics in his first full season with Portland were down a tick after he’d been a late-season revelation for the Blazers in ’16-17, but he still averages near a double-double at 14.3 points and 9.0 boards.
BENCH
Pelicans
New Orleans seemed to settle on an eight-man rotation during the critical stretch of games it played in April, featuring a bench trio of Darius Miller, Ian Clark and Solomon Hill. Other reserves such as Emeka Okafor and Cheick Diallo also made instrumental contributions during the second half of the season. … Miller was New Orleans’ most valuable reserve over the course of the 82-game season; after playing the past three seasons overseas, he returned to the NBA as a much more confident shooter. Miller shot 41.1 percent on treys, ranking 26th. … Clark wasn’t solidified in the rotation until around Christmas, then turned in a stellar second half, shooting 49.4 percent from the field after the All-Star break, including 36.5 percent on threes.
Trail Blazers
As was the case for New Orleans, Portland’s second unit benefited greatly from surprising or unexpectedly big contributions by untested players. … Point guard Shabazz Napier nearly played more in ’17-18 than he had in the three previous seasons of his pro career, averaging 8.7 points. Lottery pick Zach Collins was a frequent DNP early in his rookie campaign, but then delivered several valuable scoring and rebounding performances in March. … Veteran big Ed Davis is a quality low-post defender and active rebounder. … Mo Harkless was a high-percentage three-point threat this season and started 40 games at small forward, before a knee injury sidelined him in late March. The timeline for his return to the court is uncertain.