Pelicans play hard in second half

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Published: March 18, 2016

Now THAT was a game of runs.  Portland put the Pelicans in an early hole, running out to a 28-15 lead in the first.  The Pels then spread the floor with Babbitt, Anderson and Frazier coming in and they cut the deficit to 32-28 before finishing the quarter only down 6.

Then things got a little silly, as Anthony Davis sat down and the Pels went with an ultra-small Anderson-Babbitt-Gee-Douglas-Frazier line-up.  Ed Davis immediately treated that like the insult it was and rebounded everything everywhere.  Gentry tried to counter with Perk – who was immediately put into pick and rolls against guys he couldn’t keep up with.  The net result was Gerald Henderson looking like a star and the Blazers going up by 16 before Davis could get on the court again.  At halftime, the Pels were down 14 and looked ready to quit.

And then Davis didn’t come out of the locker room after half-time, apparently dealing with knee pain that was desginated a “sore left knee” later.  I thought things were done.

In the third, though Anderson got hot and Frazier calmed down a bit, (he was pressing a bit in the first half) the Pels only pushed the deficit down to 12.

And then the fourth happened.  Ryan Anderson unleashed a crazy dunk that, as always, is 87 times better because it’s so unexpected.  He kept his hot streak going, Kendrick Perkins tried to tear Damian Lillards head off and was ejected, and Dante Cunningham battled the Trailblazer forwards under the basket and kept them from lots of easy looks.  Frazier settled in and found open guys, and Jrue started hitting some big shots.  The Trailblazers looked gassed, which makes sense, since they had played the night before.  The Pels went up 1.

It felt good, even missing AD.

And then the Pels fell apart just enough.  They got an offensive goaltending call when Gee got too excited trying to tip one home.  They missed a pair of open looks – and Damian Lillard created enough for himself and McCollum that they edged back ahead and took the game.

Fun end.  And I can’t be mad.

Observations

  • Frazier played well.  He’s playing with energy and though he dribbled into turnovers three times in the first half as he tried to make something happen, I thought he recovered well and made the right decision in the second half most of the time.  And he also played unselfishly, which I really appreciate.  His final line was efficient with 13 points on 6 shots, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 turnovers, and a pair of steals.
  • Anderson was on fire in the game.  It’s just fun to watch when he’s locked in.
  • The defense with Anderson-Babbitt-Gee-Douglas-Frazier was some of the worst I’ve ever seen ever in the history of ever.  Ever.  No one moved to help each other at all.  It was a layup parade, and if the Blazers did miss a shot by accident, it was always put back.  Awful.
  • Toney Douglas’ line was decent if you look in the box score, but he struggled mightily to do anything with Damian Lillard and the screens being set by the Blazers.  He was left flailing and fouling all the time – and kept leaving the New Orleans interior defenders exposed.  He did hit some nice threes though.
  • Holiday has as sweet a lefty spin off the glass as anyone I’ve ever seen.  He was deadly shooting tonight, and hit some huge shots to get the Pels back in the lead.
  • On the flip side Holiday was a disaster off-ball defensively.  When he was the primary defender on Lillard, he did a pretty good job on the guy – but when McCollum was running the offense or Holiday was guarding McCollum, he was a bloody disaster.  He cheated of his man over and over and was the guy responsible for giving up no less than eight wide open three attempts.  Eight.
  • Perks horse collar of Lillard seemed to fire up the team.  He’s not fun to watch, but somehow, he’s fun to watch.  I don’t get it.

Next game is Sunday with the Clippers coming to town.  Have a good evening!

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