Trail Blazers at Pelicans
The Portland Trail Blazers have dropped the first two contests of a
four-game road trip and attempt to get in the victory column when they
visit the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday. Portland was routed 128-94 at
Oklahoma City to begin the trip and suffered another setback Thursday when it dropped a 118-110 decision to the San Antonio Spurs.
The Trail Blazers, who are just 14-22 on the road, remain in sixth place in the Western Conference, a half-game ahead of both Houston and Dallas and 1 1/2 games ahead of the Utah Jazz. "It's an important game, one that we want to win," guard C.J. McCollum told reporters of the matchup with New Orleans. "Go out there and execute, play like we did in the first half (against San Antonio) and play a little bit better in the second half and take advantage. Take advantage of all the opportunities, take advantage of transition and just go out and play." The Pelicans are coming off a 1-4 road trip after winning Wednesday in Sacramento 123-108 to salvage the finale. All-Star power forward Anthony Davis had 27 points and 14 rebounds against the Kings for his eighth consecutive double-double.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Northwest (Portland), FSN New Orleans
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (35-34): McCollum scored 26 points against the Spurs for his fourth 20-point outing of the month and is averaging 20.3 points during the stretch. McCollum and backcourt mate Damian Lillard have carried the offense all season long and Lillard had 23 points against San Antonio to record his 17th 20-point outing in the past 19 games. Lillard is averaging 25.5 points and seven assists against New Orleans this season while McCollum is averaging 24 points and has gone 10-of-20 from 3-point range against the Pelicans.
ABOUT THE PELICANS (25-42): Davis has topped 20 points in seven consecutive outings and is averaging 29 points during the stretch. Despite New Orleans' struggles, Davis has played at an even higher level since the All-Star break by averaging 28 points and 12.2 rebounds. He has fared well against the Trail Blazers this season by averaging 27 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.3 blocked shots.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Pelicans rolled to a 115-89 home victory over the Trail Blazers on Dec. 23 to end a seven-game losing streak in the series.
2. Portland PF Meyers Leonard (left shoulder) sat out Thursday after suffering a dislocation during Wednesday's practice and will miss at least two more games.
3. New Orleans backup SF Ryan Anderson scored 29 points against the Kings and made 5-of-6 3-point shots after going 3-of-21 during the previous four contests.