The New Orleans Pelicans are hoping their defense makes the trip to Portland.
One night after a poor defensive effort, the Pelicans crave a better showing when they face the struggling Trail Blazers on Saturday night.
New Orleans saw a four-game winning streak come to an end Friday as it dropped a 139-122 road decision against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Pelicans gave up an astounding 51 points in the second quarter and 87 in the first half.
Five Lakers players scored at least 20 points and the team finished with 68 points in the paint.
“It was the defensive end for us,” New Orleans coach Willie Green said of the setback. “Give them credit. They got out in transition, and then 68 points in the paint. That’s just too many for our defense to give up and think we’re going to have a chance to win the game.”
Zion Williamson scored 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting for the Pelicans. He has reached 30 in four of his past 11 games and seven times this season.
Green was impressed with Williamson’s offensive performance.
“It’s just reading the game,” Green said. “He had moments where he could score, and he went and did it. He had moments where he got off the ball.”
Williamson agreed with his coach that the club’s defense was lacking.
“Granted, they were hitting shots, but we’re fine with that,” Williamson said. “If you’re gonna hit tough shots, that happens. But we can’t give up easy layups and transition baskets. We can’t do stuff like that, because that’s when the game got out of hand.”
Williamson could be held out on the second end of the back-to-back. He played Friday despite a bone bruise in his left foot.
Brandon Ingram added 22 points for New Orleans. CJ McCollum, the former Trail Blazer, had 19 points after scoring 20 or more in the previous three outings.
The Trail Blazers have lost three straight games, with the latest one rating as one of their worst setbacks of the season.
Portland held a 23-point lead over the NBA-worst Detroit Pistons with five minutes left in the third quarter before collapsing and losing 128-122 in overtime.
Detroit had just nine available players due to moves made before Thursday’s trade deadline.
Portland also had roster issues as Deandre Ayton and Malcolm Brogdon were both out with illnesses and Scoot Henderson sat out with a sprained left foot.
Anfernee Simons sprained his left ankle with five minutes left in the third quarter on Thursday, and he has been ruled out of Saturday’s game. Simons had 29 points in 25 minutes before exiting.
Ayton, Brogdon and Henderson are all listed as questionable.
The overwhelming bright spot for Portland was Jerami Grant scoring a career-best 49 points in the loss to the Pistons.
But Grant couldn’t fully enjoy the milestone.
“It was cool. Wish we would have got the win though, for sure,” Grant said afterward. “A little short-handed, but I think we did OK. We gave up the lead, though. We got to be better.”
Grant has topped 20 points in six of his past 10 appearances to raise his season average to 21.9.
The Trail Blazers also learned that second-year guard Shaedon Sharpe will miss a minimum of six weeks after undergoing core muscle surgery on Friday. Sharpe has been sidelined since Jan. 11.
Sharpe is averaging 15.9 points in 32 games (25 starts) this season.
The Trail Blazers and Pelicans are meeting for the first time this season and will play two more times. New Orleans has won six of the past seven matchups.
–Field Level Media