Trail Blazers 114 - 88 Pelicans
Final
  for this game

Blazers dominate Pelicans, roll to 5th straight win

Dec 21, 2014 - 5:07 AM New Orleans, LA (SportsNetwork.com) - So much for the Trail Blazers being sluggish following Friday's triple-overtime victory over the Spurs.

There was no hangover for Portland, as LaMarcus Aldridge poured in 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a 114-88 wire-to-wire drubbing of the Pelicans on Saturday.

Damian Lillard, fresh off his 43-point performance against San Antonio, scored 17 points, and the Blazers led by as many as 34 by shooting 57.1 percent from the field over the first three quarters.

"I think that was an impressive back-to-back with the win last night with how we won that in triple overtime and then to come out with the energy and focus that we had tonight, from beginning to end, that was a very impressive back- to-back win for us," said Portland coach Terry Stotts.

Chris Kaman chipped in with 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting for Portland, which rolled to a fifth straight win heading into another tough road matchup against Houston on Monday.

New Orleans had won three of four coming in, but the usually productive triumvirate of Anthony Davis, Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday combined to shoot 8-of-37 (21.6 percent) for a total of 19 points.

Austin Rivers netted a team-high 21 points and Ryan Anderson added 16.

"We have to have a strong mentality to flush this one before tomorrow, because the NBA is pretty cruel in that way," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said.

The dismantling started early, as the Blazers scored on five straight possessions and jumped out to a 14-4 lead.

The margin reached 19 at one point in the opening frame and grew to 44-23 early in the second on the third of Wesley Matthews' three 3-pointers.

New Orleans' night was summed up by Evans having a routine finger-roll rim out in the closing seconds of the half.

The Pelicans trailed 62-44 at the break, and the intermission did not cool the Blazers off. Lillard hit a corner 3 on the first possession of the third quarter and made two more from outside in the opening six minutes. The third pushed the difference to 80-51, and both teams emptied their bench from there.

Game Notes

Nicolas Batum, who sat out Friday's win over the Spurs, scored 11 points for the Blazers ... The Blazers have won four straight meetings ... Lillard posted a game-high seven assists ... The Pelicans shot 35.3 percent from the field.






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