NEW ORLEANS — Anthony Davis scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the New Orleans Pelicans to a 115-89 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.
Tyreke Evans nearly added a triple-double, scoring 24 points to go with nine rebounds and eight assists and reserve Jrue Holiday had 19 points as New Orleans won two straight games for just the second time this season.
The game turned with 4 minutes to play in the first half when New Orleans turned a two-point lead into a 51-36 halftime advantage. Evans had eight points and two steals to key the game-changing run.
New Orleans played counter to its season-long defensive character against Portland. Despite being last in the league in points allowed per game (107.8) and next-to-last in opponent’s field goal percentage (46.5), New Orleans held the Blazers to 30 percent shooting over the final three quarters.
The Pelicans, meanwhile, got hot from 3-point range to help extend the lead. After starting the game 2 of 14 from beyond the arc, New Orleans went 10 for 15. Holiday, Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon combined for nine of the 12 3-pointers.
C.J. McCollum had 19 points and seven assists to lead Portland, which was without Damian Lillard for the second time this season.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: Al-Farouq Aminu scored 10 points and had eight rebounds against his former team. . Portland lost in spite of outrebounding New Orleans 58-49.
Pelicans: New Orleans picked up back-to-back wins for just the second time this season. The other time the Pelicans did so was in a three-game win streak from Nov. 22-25.
PORTLAND’S ROAD SLUMP
Portland hasn’t found much success away from the Moda Center this season. Including Wednesday night’s loss, the Trail Blazers have lost five straight on the road and are 5-14 away from home this season.
Wednesday also ended a five-game road trip for Portland, one in which it lost every game. The last time the Trail Blazers lost every time it played on a road trip of at least five games was Feb. 17-24, 1974. Portland finished that season 5-34 on the road
PELICANS CONTINUE WITH OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING WOES
New Orleans entered Wednesday night’s game against Portland averaging a franchise-worst 8.6 offensive rebounds per game. New Orleans’ lowest average for a full season is 9.8 in 2008-09.
Wednesday night’s effort didn’t exactly help get the Pelicans back on track. New Orleans recorded only eight offensive boards, with Davis picking up three.
Only Atlanta is worse, averaging 8.2 entering Wednesday’s games.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: host Cleveland on Saturday
Pelicans: visit Miami on Friday.
