Pelicans at Trail Blazers
The New Orleans Pelicans attempt to complete a four-game season sweep of Portland when they visit the Trail Blazers on Friday. The Pelicans won the first three meetings by an average of 13.3 points, including a 138-117 home romp on Feb. 11, and Portland will be missing star guard Damian Lillard this time.
Lillard said Thursday that he will miss three to four games due to a groin injury suffered on Feb. 12 and that's not good news for Portland, which is in ninth place in the Western Conference, four games behind the eighth-place Memphis Grizzlies. "You can't say, 'alright, I'm going to play through it' because it can be bad," Lillard told reporters on Thursday. "I've been doing all the training and rehab that I can possibly do so I'm sore as hell. I have to take time off to let it heal completely. Once that happens, I will be back out there." New Orleans won six of its last nine games prior to the All-Star break and resides in 11th place in the West, 5 1/2 games behind the Grizzlies for the final postseason berth. "We've just got to take care of the business on our side," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry told reporters. "We have 27 games left. What we have to do is try to look at each and every one of those games and play at a real, real high level. We still control our own destiny until somebody tells me otherwise."
TIME: 10:30 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN, FS New Orleans, NBCS Northwest, TSN
ABOUT THE PELICANS (23-32): All-Star small forward Brandon Ingram (ankle) is referring to himself as "a full-go" for Friday's game after missing three contests and being limited to nine minutes in the All-Star Game. Ingram averages a team-high 24.9 points and also collects 6.4 rebounds per game and he is looking forward for the stretch run, particularly with rookie forward Zion Williamson thriving with a 22.5 scoring average through 10 career games. "I'm excited for it," Ingram told reporters. "I think all our guys are healthy right now. We have a pretty good rhythm and pretty good group right now. I think it's going to be some fun basketball. I think while I was out the last three games, they found a rhythm pushing the break. On the defensive end, they've been really good. Hopefully, we can continue to find our identity."
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (25-31): Lillard, who ranks fourth in the NBA with a 29.5 scoring average and also averages 7.9 assists, had to miss the All-Star Game due to the injury and he has scored at least 20 points in 21 straight appearances. His epic six-game streak from Jan. 20-Feb. 1, in which he averaged 48.8 points and made 49 of 86 3-point attempts, rejuvenated the squad and he expects Portland to shake its doldrums and make a strong playoff push. "It's a long way to go, we've got a lot of home games, we've got a lot of winnable games," Lillard told reporters. "Just know that I'm not gonna go away. ... After this break is over, it's on."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Williamson recorded 31 points and nine rebounds in last week's rout of the Trail Blazers.
2. New Orleans SG Jrue Holiday recorded 10 or more assists in three straight games.
3. Portland SG CJ McCollum scored 20 or more points in three of the past four games.