The game started off in much the same fashion as last night's loss to the Golden State Warriors. Instead of Stephen Curry torching the Pelicans, C.J. McCollum made everything he looked at. In the first quarter, he poured in 22 points and the Trail Blazers led 43-18 after one.
As you might have guessed, the defense was full of holes and responsible throughout the first half, giving up 70 points to an unrecognizable Portland squad. Led by Dante Cunningham's effort, the Pelicans finally started getting some stops in the 3rd quarter and chipped away at the monstrous deficit, cutting it to 8 points in the 4th following Anthony Davis' third three-pointer of the night.