PORTLAND – New Orleans’ perimeter defense has been trending upward lately in stopping dribble penetration and forcing opponents into more difficult three-point attempts. The latter proved to be the case to an extreme degree Monday – Portland turned in by far its worst outside shooting game of the regular season, a decisive factor in an upset win by the Pelicans. Trail Blazers guards and perennial team leading scorers Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum combined to shoot 2/20 on three-pointers, part of the hosts’ 4/29 outing from distance. Conversely, New Orleans was 15/35 on treys and had four players make at least two trifectas.

IT WAS OVER WHEN…

With New Orleans leading 101-92, both teams went scoreless for an extended stretch around the 2:00 mark, giving Portland too little time to try to erase its deficit. Lillard scored on a driving layup, but by the 0:30 mark, it was still 101-94 in favor of the visitors.

PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME

In an excellent illustration of New Orleans’ overall performance, there were numerous candidates for this distinction, including rookie Jaxson Hayes, veterans Derrick Favors and E’Twaun Moore, along with second-year hustle guy Kenrich Williams. 

#WEEKLYREVIEW

For the eighth time in nine weeks of this regular season, Brandon Ingram earned the most votes from fans in a Player of the Week poll, this time garnering roughly 70 percent of ballots. In three games last week, the forward averaged 27.0 points and 4.0 assists per game. He was instrumental in New Orleans’ lone Week 9 win, by depositing 34 points at Minnesota.