Trey Murphy III's Shooting Ignites Pelicans Road Win Over Blazers

The Pelicans have now won five straight games against the Blazers in Portland with their victory on Tuesday night.

The New Orleans Pelicans continued their road dominance with a 110-100 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night. Trey Murphy III led the Pelicans with 31 points, while CJ McCollum returned to his former team and poured in 29 points in the Pels' victory. New Orleans has now won seven of their eight games on the road.

Coming off a tremendous victory on Sunday versus the Suns, the Pelicans started Tuesday night's game slow. CJ McCollum got off to a quick start, scoring 12 points in the quarter, and New Orleans capitalized on the six Portland turnovers to score nine points. Blazers big man Deandre Ayton dominated the first half, scoring ten points in each quarter to lead Portland in scoring. New Orleans shot extremely cold from deep, going just 2/9 from beyond the arc. The Pelicans led 28-27 after the first quarter.

Portland started the second quarter on a 12-0 to take a double-digit lead early in the period. New Orleans responded by finally knocking down a few three-pointers, going 4/6 in the last seven minutes of the quarter. Trey Murphy III scored ten points in the period, and the Pels drew within three points after a CJ McCollum floater went in right before the half.

Murphy III had an even better third quarter, scoring 17 points in the period. After getting off to a slow start, Trey scored 25 points over the second and third quarters. New Orleans continued its defensive pressure, forcing 15 Blazers turnovers that the Pels turned into 24 points through three quarters. The Pels had just five turnovers themselves and led 87-78 after outscoring the Blazers by 12 points in the third.

The New Orleans defense turned up in the fourth quarter, allowing only three points through the first five minutes of the quarter. This allowed the Pels to expand their lead to 15 points and never look back, with Williamson having a strong imprint on the final quarter. Zion finished with 22 points and seven rebounds on the night. Trey Murphy III led all scorers with 31 points on 5/12 shooting from beyond the arc.

The victory, coupled with a Phoenix Suns loss, puts the Pelicans back in the sixth seed in the West with three games remaining. If New Orleans wins its remaining three games, it will avoid the Play-In Tournament. The Pelicans have road games remaining against the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors, before ending their regular season on Sunday versus the Los Angeles Lakers.