----- Trail Blazers used a hot-shooting first half to Bury the Pelicans Wednesday night at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
Hot start powers Trail Blazers past Pelicans!
Deni Avdija and Shaedon Sharpe combined for 47-points as the Portland Trail Blazers dominated the New Orleans Pelicans 119-100 Wednesday night at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
Portland (13-23) connected on 14 of their first 18 shots as they built a 40-24 first quarter lead. Shaedon Sharpe scored 13 points in the first. The Trail Blazers shot 73% from the field in the opening quarter.
In the second, Portland used runs of 14-6 and 12-3 to build a 33-point lead at 70-37. Sharpe would connect with a three-pointer at the second quarter buzzer to give the Blazers a 75-42 lead heading into the locker room.
Portland made 67% of their shots in the first half including a sparkling 11-of-21 from beyond-the-arc.
New Orleans (7-31) closed the third quarter on a 19-11 run to cut Portland's lead to 22 heading into the fourth but never got closer than 20 the rest of the way until the final minute of the game in garbage time.
Anfernee Simons finished with 17 points, six rebounds, and five assists and Deandre Ayton recorded a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Portland won the season series with New Orleans 3-1.
Up Next- The Trail Blazers will play the second of a back-to-back tomorrow night in Dallas against the Mavericks. The game is scheduled to tip off at 5:30 PM.
Chad's Take- Spectacular first half offense from the Trail Blazers.
