Pelicans Stumble In Second Half, Fall to Blazers
After starting the season 3-1, the New Orleans Pelicans haven't been the same.
Thursday night, facing a Portland Trail Blazers squad that was without Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic, and Shaedon Sharpe, the Pelicans gave possibly their worst performance of the young season in losing 95-106 at the Smoothie King Center.
Jerami Grant scored a team-high 27 points, including 10 in the deciding fourth quarter to lead the undermanned Blazers to their ninth win.
Zion Williamson led all players with 29 points, tying his season-high. Trey Murphy III scored 16 off the bench, but the rest of the Pelicans, particularly the starters, were held in check.
Brandon Ingram finished with 14 points, but had only 12 shot attempts. CJ McCollum's shooting woes continued as he was just 6-of-17 shooting for 13 points against his former team.
Portland outshot, outrebounded, and outhustled the mistake-prone Pels, who tied their season-high with 17 turnovers.
The loss was the third in the last four games for New Orleans, which now sits at 6-6 this season.
Nov 10, 2022; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) reacts to a foul against the Portland Trail Blazers during the first half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
In a reversal from how most games have gone this season, the Pelicans played their best basketball in the first half, taking a 57-51 lead into the break.
Through their first 11 games, the Pels had outscored their opponents in 15 of 22 quarters in the second half with one draw.
They hadn't lost both quarters after halftime since their 111-124 defeat at the hands of the Phoenix Suns back on Oct. 28.
All of the advantages seemed to be in their favor. Playing on their home court, fully healthy, and facing a Portland squad that was also on the second night of a back-to-back while missing 51 points, eight assists, and 19 rebounds from its lineup.
Instead, the Pelicans opened the final 24 minutes with a disastrous third quarter.
New Orleans' six-point lead turned into a four-point deficit as the Pelicans' offense ground to a screeching halt.
The Blazers opened the third with a 12-4 run over the 3:30 of the period, as the Pels missed four of their first six shots, to move back out in front, 63-61.
A layup by Herb Jones (10 points) temporarily evened the score, after Anfernee Simons knocked down a three to give Portland the lead once again, the Pelicans wouldn't score another point for almost four minutes until Murphy ended the drought with a layup of his own to bring New Orleans back within three.
Minutes later Murphy would bury a three to tie the score at 74 apiece, but once again the Blazers were able to regain the lead and go into the fourth quarter up 78-74 after holding the Pelicans to 17 points in the quarter on 7-of-20 shooting.
Zion Williamson opened the scoring in the fourth with a three-point play, pulling New Orleans back to within one, and reigniting the home crowd.
However, Portland fought back once again. This time with an 12-4 run that effectively put the game out of reach and handed the Pelicans a stinging defeat to open a six-game home stand.
For the fourth time in the young season New Orleans failed to capitalize on an opportunity to win consecutive games. The loss also snapped the Pelicans' modest two-game home win streak.
New Orleans will try to get back on the winning side of things when they face the Houston Rockets (2-10) on Saturday night.
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