The Portland Trail Blazers hung around for much of the night, before the New Orleans Pelicans pulled away down the stretch to take home a 117-107 victory on Wednesday evening at Moda Center. The game marked the return to Portland for CJ McCollum, traded to the Pelicans last month after spending the first eight and-a-half seasons of his career in a Blazer uniform. He led all scorers in the game with 25 points, 14 of which came in the first quarter.
For the Blazers, the loss marked their fifth in a row, and ninth out of the last ten games.