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Blazers vs. Pelicans Final Score: 102-93; Portland Fights Back From 16 Down to Stun New Orleans

Portland came back in the fourth quarter to rally past New Orleans Monday night at Moda Center

By RyanASterling
Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

Portland had a poor first three quarters against New Orleans Monday night.  The fourth quarter was all they needed.

Portland overcame a 16-point third quarter deficit, and 15-point fourth quarter hole, to stun the Pelicans, 102-93 at Moda Center.

Portland started the game hot with an 8-0 run, but the Pelicans responded with a 9-1 run of their own to keep the game close.  Once again, turnovers stopped the Blazers momentum, with Portland committing six in the first quarter alone.  LaMarcus Aldridge and Anthony Davis had a good back-and-forth shooting display, and Chris Kaman provided an immediate punch off the bench, but the turnovers allowed New Orleans to stay within one after one.

The turnovers continued in the second, and this time the defense was unable to put a stop to Ryan Anderson.  Portland committed six more turnovers, two offensive fouls, and despite shooting 50% for the period found the Pelicans gaining and expanding a lead.  Anderson had 10 in the second for New Orleans, and the Blazers found themselves down by seven at halftime.

The Pelicans put on a shooting clinic in the third, hitting 15 of their 19 shots.  Davis was 7-of-7 from the field, and proved nearly unmovable on defense.  The Blazers committed four more turnovers, and found themselves down by 12 after three.

Finally in the fourth quarter, the Blazers broke on through.  Aldridge was 3-of-5 shooting in the period, and timely shots made by Steve Blake and C.J. McCollum cut the New Orleans lead down.  On defense, every Pelican not named Anthony Davis was forced into bad passes and bad shots.  Down 91-88, Damian Lillard missed a three, but Robin Lopez snared the rebound and fed it to Matthews who tied the game.  After Davis missed a shot on the other end, Blake found Lopez down low for the Blazers first lead of the second half.  Jrue Holliday tied the game with foul shots, but Lillard drained a three on the next possession for a 96-93 lead.  Lopez sealed the lead with foul shots.

The Blazers comeback hinged on a combined 0-for-12 shooting by Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holliday in the fourth.  Aldridge had 23, Lillard had 22, and Chris Kaman had 15 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

BOX SCORE

Gameday Thread Comments of the Night

During the third quarter:

Strikes me as a game where NO is playing their best and cannot pull away and we can get hot in the 4th and win by like 7.
by Carthage

Earlier today, regarding whether Damian Lillard gets an award for winning Player of the Week:

It's a racket.
The NBA charges the players 25k each time they win a Player of the Week award (40k for Player of the Month), and they claim it’s for "processing fees" caused by tabulating the stats and algorithms used in determining who wins the award.
All the player gets, besides a lighter wallet, is a sticker they can put on a league-issued Sticker Page. The first sticker page you get as a rookie is free, but if you’re a really good player and earn enough stickers to need an extra page, the league charges you 5k for one. They nickle and dime the players!
I remember back when Clyde won Player of the Month, he had to mortgage his house in Lake Oswego just to accept the award. It’s ridiculous.
by Mortimer

Post-Game Reaction

See video highlights of the shocking victory amidst Davis' dominant performance at NBA.com!

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