The New Orleans Pelicans have their sights set on landing a top-six playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The Pelicans have the opportunity to move closer to making that a reality when they visit the lowly Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.
New Orleans (46-32) will arrive at the arena Tuesday in the seventh position in the West, though the Pelicans have the same record as the Phoenix Suns, who hold the sixth spot. The Pelicans defeated the host Suns 113-105 on Sunday but Phoenix owns the head-to-head tiebreaker having beaten New Orleans twice.
The Sacramento Kings (45-33) and Los Angeles Lakers (45-34) are just behind the Pelicans so there is little breathing room entering the final four games of the season.
Tuesday’s contest is the second of a four-game road swing. The win in Phoenix snapped New Orleans’ four-game losing streak.
CJ McCollum scored 31 points and Zion Williamson added 29 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and a career-best five blocked shots.
“I was locked into the game plan. They got special players,” Williamson said afterward. “I felt like if I was guarding one of them late in the game I could give my team energy.”
Williamson’s strong outing game two days after he missed Friday’s 111-109 loss to the San Antonio Spurs due to a finger injury.
New Orleans coach Willie Green has been impressed with the improvement Williamson has displayed as a defender.
“He’s been getting better defensively as the season has progressed,” Green said of Williamson. “He was everywhere, guarding the ball, blocking shots, coming up with big offensive rebounds, attacking the basket, making his free throws.”
McCollum is on a roll with three straight 30-point outings as he prepares to face his former team. He is averaging 32.7 points and is 16-for-36 from 3-point range during the stretch.
The Pelicans remain without standout forward Brandon Ingram, who has missed nine straight games since hyperextending his left knee on March 21. Ingram is improving but has been ruled out of the Portland contest.
New Orleans is looking for its sixth straight victory over the Trail Blazers. The Pelicans are 2-0 against the Blazers this season, winning 93-84 in Portland on Feb. 10 and 126-107 at home on March 16. McCollum scored 30 points in the more recent meeting.
The Trail Blazers (21-57) lost 124-107 to the host Boston Celtics on Sunday for their 11th defeat in their past 13 games.
Portland dropped 10 in a row before beating the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards before losing in Boston to end a 2-5 road trip.
Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said he was pleased with the effort in Sunday’s setback.
“I thought we did good. We played hard as hell,” Billups said. “We crushed them on the glass, we did a really good job. Offensive rebounds, getting 22, that’s incredible. But we didn’t convert well enough.
“I thought what really hurt us was just our rim decisions. … I thought too many times we shot really poor shots at the rim, we settled for long floaters, long twos. We didn’t do well there.”
Dalano Banton recorded 28 points and matched his career high of nine assists in his return to Boston after being traded by the Celtics to Portland at the trade deadline. Deandre Ayton also fared well with 22 points and 14 rebounds.
The contest against the Pelicans is the start of a three-game homestand for the Trail Blazers. They close out their third consecutive losing season on Sunday when they visit the Sacramento Kings.
–Field Level Media
