Pelicans (3-10), Trail Blazers (7-7)
Friday’s Western Conference matchup was billed as Jrue Holiday’s long-awaited season debut, and the point guard delivered in a big way, scoring 21 points in just 23 minutes. While Holiday’s return to the court proved to be a memorable one individually, team-wise it was just as beneficial for New Orleans. The Pelicans played their best game of 2016-17, building an early double-figure lead and rolling to a convincing victory over last season’s No. 5 seed in the Western Conference. In addition to Holiday’s outstanding first game, Anthony Davis put up one of his dazzling stat lines (38 points, nine rebounds, six assists, four blocks_ and the hosts’ bench dominated the Portland reserves.