2018 NBA Playoffs: Power ranking all 16 teams

9. New Orleans Pelicans

The Portland Trail Blazers didn’t exactly close out the 2017-18 season on the strongest note, which gives the New Orleans Pelicans a fighting chance in this series if Anthony Davis is the best player on the floor. No disrespect to Damian Lillard, but given how hungry AD has been to return to the postseason and how he dominated in his first playoff series, we’re almost counting on it.

However, the rest of the supporting cast also has to keep up the job it’s done over the last few months. The Brow’s stat line of 30.2 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.2 blocks, 2.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game since DeMarcus Cousins went down is the biggest reasons the Pellies are 21-12 in that time, but guys like Jrue Holiday, Nikola Mirotic, E’Twaun Moore, Darius Miller and Ian Clark have to continue hitting 3s and defending hard.

Rip City is still probably the better team, but with Maurice Harkless out and Ed Davis just coming back from injury two games ago, it’ll have a hard time slowing down the league’s premier Unicorn. In a battle of MVP candidates, if AD’s supporting cast steps up and Holiday has a great series, don’t sleep on NOLA.