Pelicans lead series 2-0
PORTLAND – Jrue Holiday once again played like the two-way force that New Orleans players and coaches have been talking about for months. Rajon Rondo, in trademark “Playoff Rondo” fashion, sank the back-breaking fourth-quarter hoop, a left-corner three-pointer. Nikola Mirotic scraped the ceiling with jumpers, but when they came back down to Earth, they swished through the net. E’Twaun Moore missed two free throws in a critical spot, but more than made up for it by tracking down the rebound and bleeding valuable seconds off Portland’s home clock.
It took a collective effort Tuesday at the Moda Center, but the Pelicans did what they’ve done so many times in 2017-18, pulling off a road victory amid tight circumstances. The Trail Blazers kept applying pressure by putting together rallies, only to watch New Orleans regain control. Portland outplayed New Orleans in the first half and led 59-54 at the break, but the visitors dominated the third quarter by a 33-19 margin, changing the momentum significantly. The game was tied with three-plus minutes left in the fourth period, but the Pelicans again answered, making nearly all of the big plays in crunch time.
In a season of unprecedented and unexpected feats, New Orleans accomplished something for the first time in franchise history, winning consecutive road playoff games. The Pelicans did so in a very difficult venue, against a very formidable opponent. Both teams will travel to Louisiana on Wednesday, in advance of Game 3 at the Smoothie King Center on Thursday at 8 p.m. Central.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Holiday collected a defensive rebound with 17 seconds left, then went to the foul line at the other end to sink a pair of free throws, making it a nine-point game and sending many Portland fans to the Moda Center exits. On a previous possession, Rondo drained a dagger trey, giving the Pelicans a 108-100 lead with 38 seconds to go. The Pelicans managed to run a big chunk of time off when Moore secured a rebound off his own misfired free throw, then Rondo gathered in a layup miss.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Holiday will be at the center of discussion around the NBA on Wednesday – probably even more so if these New Orleans-Portland games hadn’t both ended around 1 a.m. on the East Coast – after playing one of the best games of his pro career Tuesday. The UCLA product went for 33 points and nine assists, constantly getting into the Portland paint en route to shooting 14/24 from the field. His defensive excellence also factored into the Trail Blazers’ talented guard tandem of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum not having great shooting nights, combining to go just 16/39.
“He’s a very good player – I said that coming into the series,” McCollum noted of Holiday. “He doesn’t get a lot of credit, because he’s playing with (five-time All-Star Anthony Davis). I think you’re starting to see how good he truly is.”
PELICANS UNSUNG CONTRIBUTOR
It tells you something about how many positive things are happening around this New Orleans team that a near triple-double qualifies as a relatively unnoticed performance, but Rondo came just shy of that feat against the Trail Blazers. The veteran point guard netted 16 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, helping to control the game with his steady floor leadership. He had one blemish by turning the ball over six times, but the Pelicans were plus-17 with him on the floor, only minus-eight in the non-Rondo minutes. Moore and reserve forward Darius Miller also came up with some timely jumpers, quieting a high-volume Portland crowd in key spots. They notched eight points each.
By the way, for a second straight spring, Rondo’s NBA team won the first two games of a playoff series on the road. In '17, he spearheaded eighth-seeded Chicago to a pair of victories at Boston's TD Garden.
QUOTES TO NOTE
“He’s been great. All he wants to do is play basketball. Now that everything that was going on with him has been squared away and doing fine, he’s just focused on playing. And he’s playing at a high level.” – Davis on Holiday, who in previous seasons had to handle injuries and a family concern in ’16-17
“When he gets in that zone, he’s pretty much unstoppable. He has such an effect on the game at both ends. We feed off of that. When he gets going, we’re a totally different team. It’s been that way for a while now. We’re going to continue to ride him and AD, and see how far we can go.” – Miller on Holiday’s outstanding performance
“It was crazy. He’s so athletic and the plays he makes, I don’t think he gets enough credit for the stuff he does. We appreciate what he does.” – Miller on Holiday’s highlight-reel left-handed dunk over Portland’s Jusuf Nurkic
“It’s good. I twisted it twice. The first time, I stepped on a fan’s foot, but it was not that bad (of a sprain). Then I twisted it by myself. I wanted to stay on the floor and finish the game. I’m sure with two days of treatments, I’ll be ready to go next game. Nothing to be worried about.” – Mirotic on dealing with an ankle injury
“I saw the ball coming off the rim and I thought, ‘Man!’ You always want to correct your wrongs. It’s not always smart to (go after an offensive rebound), but it was just good instincts. Then I thought I had an easy layup, but it rolled out, so I had to chase it down again. I was just trying to make whatever plays we needed to win, no matter how it had to get done.” – Moore on a bad news/good news sequence late, when he missed two free throws and a point-blank shot, but the Pelicans’ multiple boards put Portland in dire straits time-wise
BY THE NUMBERS
5-17: New Orleans all-time franchise record in road games, with two of those victories taking place in the past four days. The Pelicans had never won more than one postseason road game even in a span of three successive seasons, with the previous triumphs coming in ’03, ’08 and ’11.
45.1: Portland shooting percentage from the field, which marked the first time in six total meetings vs. New Orleans that the Trail Blazers shot at least 45 percent (albeit barely).
2: Trail Blazers offensive rebounds in the second half Tuesday. Portland pounded the glass for 11 of those prior to intermission, but New Orleans did much better from there in controlling the category.
11: Combined fast-break points for the two teams, in a game that was much slower paced than Saturday’s Game 1.
12/24: Pelicans three-point shooting as a team, their best night in that category recently. They hadn’t made at least half of their trey attempts since going 13/24 at Oklahoma City on Feb. 2.