NBA Game Recap - New Orleans at Portland
Fri Feb 21, 2020 10:30 PM EST

CLE
113
WAS
108
F
DAL
122
ORL
106
F
PHO
101
TOR
118
F
IND
106
NY
98
F
DEN
101
OKC
113
F
BOS
127
MIN
117
F
SA
113
UTA
104
F
NO
128
POR
115
F
MEM
105
LAL
117
F

Feb 21, 2020, 10:30 PM EST

Final

1

2

3

4

T

New Orleans

40

33

29

26

128

Portland

35

28

20

32

115

Williamson has 25 in Pelicans' 128-115 win over Blazers
Sat Feb 22, 2020 2:19 AM

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Zion Williamson hears the accolades but insists he's still getting comfortable in his new job.

He had 25 points for his seventh straight game with at least 20, and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers 128-115 on Friday night.

“Even though I'm a rookie and people think I'm doing good there's still so much I have to learn,” he said. “There's so much about the game I'm still learning, I feel like by year four, five I'm gonna have all that down.”

The No. 1 draft pick was playing in just his 11th game after a right knee injury sidelined him for the first half of the season. The Pelicans, who led by as many as 22 points, have won four of their last five games.

Even his teammates are impressed.

“He definitely takes us to another level,” Jrue Holiday said. “He's so hard to guard and hard to stop, so for him to be doing that 10 or 11 games in is impressive."

The Blazers, who have lost three straight, were without Damian Lillard, who is expected to miss three or more games because of a groin injury that occurred in Memphis last week. It kept Lillard out of the All-Star Game and the 3-point contest last weekend.

Lillard is averaging a career-high 29.5 points and 7.8 assists. His absence hurts the Blazers, who went into the game 3.5 games back of Memphis for eighth in the Western Conference standings.

And it’s not just Lillard: Portland had only nine players available for the game.

CJ McCollum took over as point guard and finished with 27 points and 10 assists. Hassan Whiteside added 19 points and 12 rebounds.

“Overall I thought we competed, we just didn't play well enough defensively to win,” McCollum said.

The Pelicans were among four teams, along with the Blazers, fighting for those last playoff berths with just a third of the season left. Coach Alvin Gentry said he's treating the last 27 games like a college season.

“We want to play to get into a tournament. We want a high seed. Those are the things that we’ve talked about. Obviously, we have to play good basketball,” Gentry said.

The Pelicans also won the previous three meetings this season with Portland. Earlier this month in New Orleans, Williamson had 31 points and nine rebounds in a 138-117 victory over the Blazers.

Williamson, who played just one season at Duke before going pro, went into the game against the Blazers averaging 22.1 points and 7.5 rebounds.

His streak of games with 20-plus points is the longest among NBA rookies this season. And he was the first player since Michael Jordan to have 20 or more in eight of his first 10 NBA games.

At just 19, he's the youngest player in league history with 20-plus points in seven straight games.

“He just fits in,” Gentry said about his emerging star. “It's not like we call a bunch of plays for him. Our guys do a good job in the flow of our offense trying to find him.”

Lonzo Ball’s 3-pointer put the Pelicans up 29-17 in the opening quarter. But the Blazers closed within 40-38 early in the second on Whiteside’s dunk. It was as close as Portland could get, and Williamson’s dunk gave New Orleans a 54-46 lead.

Williamson’s layup pushed the Pelicans' advantage to 65-50 and New Orleans led 73-63 going into halftime. He led all players with 19 points.

Consecutive jumpers from Carmelo Anthony and Whiteside's dunk pulled Portland within 80-75 in the third quarter. The Pelicans pulled away with a 12-0 run to head to the fourth with 102-83 lead.

Portland closed the gap a bit in the fourth when back-to-back 3-pointers from Trevor Ariza and McCollum got the Blazers within 114-105. Holiday's 3 and Ball's layup extended New Orleans' lead again and fans at the Moda Center headed for the exits.

Holiday finished with 20 points and nine assists.

TIP INS

Pelicans: The Pelicans were coming off a 123-118 loss at home to Oklahoma City before the All-Star break. Williamson had 32 points. … New Orleans missed 12 free throws in the first half. ... The Pelicans have won three straight on the road. ... Josh Hart finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds off the bench.

Trail Blazers: The Blazers swept the Pelicans in three games last season. With Lillard sidelined, Gary Trent Jr. got his third start for the Blazers. His dad, who played for the Blazers from 1995-98, was on hand to watch.

MEETING MELO: For much of the night, Williamson faced veteran Carmelo Anthony, whose task it was to try to stop the teenager.

“I don't know if I would say that was fun, but he's Carmelo,” Williamson said about going up against Anthony. “His resume speaks for itself. He's a crafty player. It's always tough to match up against players like that, but I love the challenge.”

UP NEXT

The Pelicans visit Golden State on Sunday.

The Trail Blazers host Detroit on Sunday.

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More AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

Leaders

New Orleans PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
Z. Williamson 25 0 3 4 1 0
J. Holiday 20 1 9 2 4 0
Portland PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
C. McCollum 27 -13 10 6 0 0
C. Anthony 20 -19 1 5 1 1

Team Comparison

NO POR
Points For 128 115
Field Goals 45/84-54% 43/94-46%
Three Pointers 18/34-53% 10/27-37%
Free Throws 20/33-61% 19/25-76%
Offensive Rebounds 9 13
Defensive Rebounds 37 33
Rebounds 56 53
Blocks 3 9
Steals 8 7
Turnovers 17 14
Points Scored Off Turnovers 25 18
Points in the Paint 48 48
Fast Break Points 19 8
Personal Fouls 23 22
Technical Fouls 0 0
Flagrant Fouls 0 0
Ejections 0 0

2019-20 Reg Season - NO Leads Series 4-0

Date Result Away Pts Ldr Home Pts Ldr
Tue Nov 19 POR 104 @ NO 115 C. McCollum 22 J. Holiday 22
Mon Dec 23 NO 102 @ POR 94 J. Holiday 21 C. Anthony 23
Tue Feb 11 POR 117 @ NO 138 D. Lillard 20 Z. Williamson 31
Fri Feb 21 NO 128 @ POR 115 Z. Williamson 25 C. McCollum 27

Game Information

Stadium: Moda Center at the Rose Quarter, Portland, Oregon
Attendance: 19,946
Game Time: 2:21