New Orleans Pelicans: 3 takeaways from Game 2 vs. Blazers

After winning the first two games in Portland, the New Orleans Pelicans have a great chance to put this series out of reach with Games 3 and 4 at home.

Well, nobody saw that coming.

After stealing Game 1 away from the Portland Trail Blazers, the New Orleans Pelicans got selfish Tuesday night, taking a 2-0 series lead with a 111-102 victory in Portland over the Blazers.

While Anthony Davis had a fairly pedestrian 22 points and 13 rebounds, the true story for New Orleans was the play of their point guards.

Jrue Holiday scored a career playoff-high 33 points on 14-of-24 shooting, doing his best Damian Lillard impression in Dame’s house, while Rajon Rondo posted a near triple-double in the victory. Knotted at 97 with 3:43 left, NOLA would close the game on a 14-5 run.

In a normal playoff matchup, most lower-seeded teams simply try to steal a game in order to take home-court advantage away from their opponent, but this is no ordinary matchup. The Pelicans couldn’t be in a better spot, heading home up 2-0 for Games 3 and 4 with a chance to end the series in New Orleans.

Here are three takeaways for the Pelicans to think about for what is sure to be an electric environment at the Smoothie King Center in Game 3.