----- Jrue Holiday scores 22 points and dishes out 10 assists as the New Orleans Pelicans spoil Carmelo Anthony's debut with the Trail Blazers with a 115-104 win Tuesday night in New Orleans.
Jrue Holiday scored 22 points and dished out 10 assists and Brandon Ingram added 21 as the New Orleans Pelicans spoiled Carmelo Anthony's debut with Portland Tuesday night with a 115-104 victory over the Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.
Anthony finished with 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting in 23 minutes of action and Damian Lillard missed his first game of the season with back spasms.
“It felt great just to be back into the flow of the game, be back on the court, be back to where I think I belong,” Anthony said. “As far as conditioning, though, I felt absolutely great out there. There was minor things, but it was more of the flow of things, and getting used to how the team plays and sets and getting used to the guys on the team.”
It was Anthony's first action in the NBA since November 8th of last year.
“For having (only) a morning shootaround, I thought he was pretty good,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “I thought every shot he had, he was getting a good look at the basket.”
Portland took a 54-53 lead into halftime, but the Pelicans exploded for 35 points in the third quarter with Nicolo Melli scoring 12 points in the period and JJ Reddick sinking three shots from distance. New Orleans took an 88-79 lead into the final quarter.
CJ McCollum led Portland (5-10) with 22 points and Hassan Whiteside recorded a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Nassir Little returned to the bench behind Anthony and finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds on 5-for-6 shooting.
Up Next- The Trail Blazers travel to Milwaukee to meet the Bucks on Thursday. Game is scheduled to tip off at 5:00 PM.
Chad's Take- Hope you had some eggnog to get you through the game.