Season-Best Defense Propels Trail Blazers To Impressive Win Over Pelicans

Damian Lillard had it going early, but the Blazers were stout enough on defense against the Pelicans that they didn't need his typical late-game heroics.

It seemed like Damian Lillard was bound to drop 50 points again. On a night when his red-hot shooting cooled down after the first quarter, though, the Trail Blazers finally were able to play well enough on the other end to win regardless.

Portland beat the New Orleans Pelicans 101-93 on Thursday night, beating Zion Williamson and company for the second time in three nights and sweeping the teams' season series.

Lillard scored 21 of his game-high 36 points in a scintillating opening quarter, propelling his team to an early lead it would never give up. Enes Kanter added 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Carmelo Anthony had 15 of the Blazers' 20 bench points. C.J. McCollum was rusty, failing to find the range on his shot en route to 11 points on 3-of-16 from the field. 

Lillard didn't record a single assist on Thursday, the first time since 2015 he's finished a full game with zero dimes. Unsurprisingly, Portland managed just 11 assists altogether, a team-low this season. The Blazers also shot just 37.9 percent overall, and went a below-average 14-of-43 from beyond the arc.

It didn't matter in the end, though, because Portland played what Terry Stotts said afterward was its "best defensive game of the year."

The Blazers' 93 points allowed was a season-low. It was the first time since a February 9 win over the woefully short-handed Orlando Magic that their opponent failed to reach triple-digits. Their eight blocks, half of which came from Derrick Jones Jr., were a season-high.

DERRICK JONES JR pic.twitter.com/PFlXt1SSvo

— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) March 19, 2021

The Pelicans had 40 points in the paint, 16 less than in Tuesday's parade to the rim. They managed only six fast-break points, and Portland outscored them 21-14 in second-chance points. 

Williamson got his numbers and certainly had his moments, but the Blazers executed and communicated with controlled aggression that at least sometimes made life hard on him. Brandon Ingram needed 21 shots to score 19 points. New Orleans shot under 40 percent from the field, and came back down to earth from three, too.

Asked after the game what most contributed to Portland's season-best effort defensively just 48 hours after one of their worst, Stotts claimed he "didn't know." Enes Kanter chalked Thursday's performance up to trust and communication. The eye test pointed to a couple key strategic adjustments, including sometimes blitzing Williamson as a pick-and-roll ball handler.

No matter what the difference was, the Blazers could chart a new path toward contention if they're able to remember it going forward.

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