Shaedon Sharpe scored a season-best 35 points and Deni Avdija had 32 as the visiting Portland Trail Blazers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 125-117 on Wednesday.
Jrue Holiday paired 17 points with 12 assists for the Blazers, who snapped a two-game losing streak on the third leg of a five-game road swing.
Rookie Derik Queen posted 26 points for the Pelicans, Saddiq Bey added 25 and Trey Murphy III tallied 22.
Queen was active as soon as he came off the bench, pouring in 12 points in the opening frame after Avdija had given Portland control in the early stages.
Avdija scored 11 points — including 3-of-3 from deep — in the period, during which the Blazers shot 10-of-16 from the floor and 5-of-9 from deep to lead 30-25.
The second quarter featured nine lead changes and the ejections of New Orleans’ Yves Missi and Portland’s Jerami Grant.
The pair got entangled under the Pelicans’ basket, resulting in Messi pushing Grant, and Grant firing back with a shove of his own.
Technical fouls were called on both men while offsetting techs were handed to Sharpe and New Orleans’ Herbert Jones for getting involved in the aftermath, as multiple players from both teams rushed to the melee.
Sharpe had 13 points for the quarter and 20 by the half, but it was the Pelicans who edged in front 59-57 at the break.
The Trail Blazers hit their first seven shots of the third stanza, which they started with a 17-4 run before New Orleans responded with a 13-3 burst.
Holiday scored seven points in 58 seconds as Portland ripped the momentum back with a 15-2 tear.
The Blazers hit 15 of 22 shots for the quarter, which they dominated 38-26 to lead 95-85.
Portland’s advantage grew to 15 in the fourth before Bey, Queen and Jeremiah Fears spearheaded a late Pelicans surge that trimmed it to 112-109.
That was as close as they came, though, as Sharpe and Avdija steadied the Trail Blazers down the stretch.
–Field Level Media
