PORTLAND – After being sidelined for the past two games, New Orleans guard E’Twaun Moore will be back in action Wednesday against Portland, returning from a left ankle sprain. This will be Moore’s 73rd appearance of the regular season, which ranks third on New Orleans (33-48) behind Solomon Hill (tonight will be 80 for the small forward) and Anthony Davis (75).
Other notes from pregame at Moda Center:
New Orleans’ starting five in its finale will be Tim Frazier, Jrue Holiday, Hill, Dante Cunningham and Alexis Ajinca. The Pelicans will finish the campaign having used 28 different starting lineups; tonight’s combination has gone 0-2 this season. …
Alvin Gentry on the 19-point, 11-rebound performance of Pelicans rookie Cheick Diallo in last night’s loss at the Lakers: “I thought he played with energy. I still think he’s got a long way to go, from the standpoint of understanding schemes and things like that. I think initially, you’ve got to play with energy and intensity. So that’s there. The other part is just a matter of being on the floor enough and the experience of getting out and playing.” …
Asked whether Anthony Davis (knee) and DeMarcus Cousins (Achilles) would be playing tonight if the Pelicans were still in the playoff hunt, Gentry said, “I don’t think so.” The coach explained that it would be a risk to play Cousins and additional long-term injury, while Davis “has soreness on the inside of his knee. I don’t know even if we were in the playoffs, whether you would take a risk on something like that. I think they’re both legit. Both of those guys want to play.”
Gentry added that Davis played a career-best 75 games this season, while Cousins has been very durable throughout his NBA career.