Following a 102-94 victory on Monday night, the Pels improved to 2-0 on the season against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Perhaps equally important: New Orleans didn’t make loyal fans staying up late watching the West Coast game sweat because this contest never entered clutch minutes for even a single second of action.
After Jrue Holiday drilled a mid-range jumper to push the Pelicans lead to six with 6:17 remaining, the Blazers never managed to get any closer the rest of the way. The Pelicans didn’t run away with the game, but rather held strong defensively as Portland was only able to muster three points over the final 6:38 of regulation.