It’s highly unusual that a must-win game can exist with a quarter of the regular season schedule remaining, but Wednesday night was that rare exception.
The New Orleans Pelicans, who had lost four games in a row and 13 of their last 20 to slide into 10th in the Western Conference, needed to find the win column in the worst way. Behind one of their most spirited efforts of the season, they did, beating the Portland Trail Blazers, 121-110.
The Pelicans seized control towards the end of the third quarter, outscoring the Trail Blazers by a 41-25 margin over the final 14:13 of regulation.