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Game 1 postgame recap: Pelicans 97, Trail Blazers 95

Pelicans lead series 1-0

PORTLAND – The NBA’s fifth-best road team during the regular season secured a big victory away from home to open the postseason. New Orleans, which went 24-17 on the road, a better record than all but the elite of the league, led by 19 points in the second half Saturday, then withstood a furious charge from Portland to hold on for a series-opening triumph.

As was the case throughout the season, and particularly on the road, Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday led the way, scoring 35 and 21 points, respectively. Holiday also came up with several critical defensive plays, including blocking Pat Connaughton at the rim to preserve a three-point edge in the final seconds.

The Pelicans played one of their best defensive halves of 2017-18 en route to leading 45-36 at the break and were red-hot in the third quarter, but a drought helped the Trail Blazers fight their way back into the game.

IT WAS OVER WHEN…

Davis sank a pair of free throws with 4.9 seconds remaining, giving New Orleans a five-point lead. C.J. McCollum drained a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, but it came at the buzzer, only able to make the final score tighter.

PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME

Co-honors go to Davis and Holiday, with Davis securing his first NBA playoff win and Holiday continuing to demonstrate why he deserves first-team All-Defense recognition. On a night when New Orleans didn’t benefit from great shooting or its common offensive balance, the frontcourt/backcourt duo fired a combined 46 shots from the field, making 24. That accounted for more than half of the Pelicans’ makes and attempts on a night when the visitors were 41/86. Davis relied on his blend of accurate jump-shooting and elite athleticism to give Portland’s bigs big problems during his 41 minutes of action. Holiday logged 39 minutes and was a plus-12 with him on the court.

PELICANS UNSUNG CONTRIBUTOR

Ian Clark accounted for 10 of the bench’s 15 points, including a monumental three-pointer in crunch time that came off a broken play. His trifecta helped quell Portland’s rally, at least temporarily, and give New Orleans some much-needed breathing room. After filling a crunch-time role often all season, it was no surprise to see Clark (4/5 FGs, 2/2 on treys) be on the floor with the outcome hanging in the balance.

QUOTES TO NOTE

“I like him being on my team. I like that a lot better than playing against him. We talked during the last timeout. We said there are going to be two rebounds that we have to have. We get them, we’ll win the game, and if we don’t, we’re probably going to lose. He came up with both rebounds.” – Alvin Gentry on coaching Davis – an opponent of Gentry during the ’15 playoffs with Golden State – and Davis securing a pair of key boards in the final minute

“The last clip on the (pregame video) edit for the guys today, we always put a clip on there that says ‘game-winning plays’ and actually it was Jrue blocking a shot in the Portland game. Same guy, almost the exact same area and he came up with another block.” – Gentry on Holiday’s massive rejection of Connaughton, a repeat of a sequence that happened in a March 27 game in New Orleans

“(It was) really just meet him at the rim. The only thing he had was a layup or a dunk. It was going to be either a block or a foul. I was going to foul him hard. But since I saw the ball, I went for (the block).” – Holiday with WRNO 99.5 postgame radio on his swat of Connaughton

“Playing our game, pushing the ball and running the floor. But in all honesty, (the key was) defensively. Once (Rajon Rondo) gets the ball in transition, we’re hard to stop.” – Holiday on how New Orleans was able to build a 19-point lead

“It’s all effort, energy, especially coming off those (Portland) screens. We know how dangerous they are. They’re the head of the snake. We feel like if we can limit their shots, or have them take volume shots and kind of make it difficult and (force) bad shots, we’re going to do our best.” – Holiday on the Trail Blazers guard tandem of McCollum (7/18 from field) and Damian Lillard (6/23 from field) having an inefficient Game 1 vs. Pelicans

BY THE NUMBERS

17: Rondo assists, tying the New Orleans single-game franchise playoff record, in his first-ever postseason appearance with the Pelicans.

37.8: Portland shooting percentage from the field. No member of the Trail Blazers made more than half of his shots Saturday, with Ed Davis’ 3/6 being the only player even at 50 percent.

12: Trail Blazers offensive rebounds, including five by Ed Davis and four from Evan Turner, an area the Pelicans must try to clean up Tuesday in Game 2.

22: Total free throws by the two clubs in a game that was not tightly officiated, allowing for a bit more contact than most NBA contests.

15: New Orleans turnovers, another area the Pelicans can improve in the next game. New Orleans had several possessions of poor execution in the fourth quarter, helping Portland cause some anxious late-game moments.