Winners in seven of their past nine games, the Portland Trail Blazers look to continue their strong stretch run heading into the Western Conference play-in tournament when they host the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday.
Portland (39-38) moved to the right side of .500 on Tuesday, when they led almost the entire way in a 114-104 road win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Blazers trail the Clippers by a half-game for eighth place in the Western Conference. Portland is also 3 1/2 games behind the Phoenix Suns for seventh place with five games remaining on the Blazers’ schedule.
The Tuesday win came on the heels of the NBA approving sale of the Trail Blazers to Tom Dundon, who is also owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes.
“He’s intense, he wants to win,” Blazers coach Tiago Splitter said of the organization’s new owner. “He looks for perfection and that’s what we’re trying to do. It’s not easy. We all know that we’ve got a job to do. … But we’re going to fight (in) these next games we’ve got left.”
Three of Portland’s final five regular-season contests are against teams locked into either the playoffs or play-in round with San Antonio, Denver and a rematch vs. the Clippers all ahead.
New Orleans (25-51) is eliminated from postseason contention and coming into Portland on a five-game losing streak. The Pelicans had been on a run, winning five of six and six of eight, but have since stumbled against a stretch of postseason-bound competition.
Their most recent outing, a 134-102 defeat against the Houston Rockets on Sunday, was the Pelicans’ most lopsided loss since October.
“We’ve always responded. We’ve had our moments where we’ve not been our best, and the biggest thing now is responding and finishing out the season in a competitive fashion,” New Orleans interim coach James Borrego said at the team’s practice on Tuesday. “This group has played with competitive spirit and fought every night. … The goal is now to respond in Portland.”
New Orleans is 1-2 against the Blazers on the season, though the teams haven’t met since Jan. 2. In that matchup — a 122-109 Portland win — Blazers All-Star Deni Avdija finished with 34 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds.
Similarly outstanding all-around play from Avdija at Los Angeles on Tuesday helped buoy Portland, as he finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Veteran guard Jrue Holiday, a former Pelican, knocked down seven 3-pointers on 15 attempts against the Clippers on the way to 30 points.
At 16.1 points per game, Holiday is one of six currently healthy Blazers averaging in double-figure scoring per game. Avdija’s 23.1 points per game lead the way.
Portland’s Jerami Grant will miss his second consecutive game due to a strained right calf.
Trey Murphy III, New Orleans’ leading scorer at 21.7 points per game, has missed the last three contests because of a sprained right ankle. He is listed as questionable for Thursday. Dejounte Murray’s 19 points paced the Pelicans in their loss to Houston on Sunday.
