----- The New Orleans Pelicans use a strong third quarter to deliver a second-straight loss to the Blazers 123-118 Saturday night at Moda Center.
After a disappointing loss to Milwaukee on Thursday night following a 4-1 road trip, the Trail Blazers lacked energy and focus in a disappointing 123-116 home loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
DeMarcus Cousins dominated the game, finishing with 38 points and eight rebounds on 14-for-28 shooting. E'Twaun Moore added 19 points and Jrue Holiday finished with 17 points and seven assists. The Pelicans shot 52.3% from the floor including 15-for-31 from three-point range.
The Pelicans took a 60-57 lead into halftime thanks to a 10-2 run to end the second quarter. They took control of the game by opening the third quarter on a 23-8 run to push their lead to 18 at 83-65. Between the end of the first half and start of the second, the Pelicans outscored the Blazers 33-10.
New Orleans (12-11) played the game without their All-Star center, Anthony Davis. He suffered a groin injury Friday night in Utah and will undergo further evaluation.
Portland (13-10) shot just 44.8% from the field and connected on only 11-of-35 from three-point range. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum combined for 46 points on just 19-of-47 from the field. Meyers Leonard was the Blazers lone bright spot on the night. He responded to the boos on Thursday night by scoring 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting and some spirited competition against Cousins.
Jusuf Nurkic summed up the Blazers loss saying, “We had a great start and then we fell asleep. We got lazy. We can’t do that. We know we’re a great team when we bring it, but they outhustled us. They played harder than us. Maybe we thought we did enough that we could mess around."
Next up- The Blazers will have two days off and then host the Washington Wizards Tuesday night at Moda Center. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7:00 PM.
Chad's take- I'm going to seek counseling. I can't figure this team out and I'm going to go crazy searching for answers.