NBA -- How sweep it is: Pelicans eliminate Blazers
By Homer D. Sayson
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 23 Apr 2018
CHICAGO -- The New Orleans Pelicans are off to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2008.
The milestone was achieved yesterday when New Orleans outlasted the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 4, 131-123, completing a four-game romp in their best of seven showdown. The Pelicans, seeded sixth in the Western Conference, were heavy underdogs against the third-seeded Blazers.
Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday were too much to handle for Portland. Davis scattered 47 points and 11 rebounds while Holiday finished with 41 points and eight assists. Both combined to convert 30 of their 47 field goal attempts.
"It was fun. It was an amazing feeling for me to go out and sweep these guys and play the way I played," Davis said after the series clincher before a jampacked crowd at the Smoothie King Center in downtown New Orleans.
The Pels shot 45 of 79 from the field (57 percent) and 9 of 25 from 3-point distance (36 percent). They also out-rebounded the Blazers, 44-33, and swished 32 of 39 free throws. New Orleans will play the winner of the Warriors-Spurs quarterfinals for the slot in the West Finals.
C.J. McCollum sizzled with 38 points for Portland, helping cut a 15-point deficit down to one with 5:03 left in the fourth quarter, but the Pelicans proved more steady down the stretch.
Damian Lillard was held to 19 points. He acknowledged the tough defensive scheme New Orleans threw on him all series. (HDS)
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