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

After a convincing 119-102 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, the New Orleans Pelicans are in the driver’s seat with a 3-0 series lead.

Raise your hand if you predicted how this first round playoff series would go so far. Congratulations, you’re a liar.

The New Orleans Pelicans dominated the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night, jumping out to an early double-digit lead and never looking back, winning 119-102 to take a 3-0 series lead with Game 4 set for Saturday night in New Orleans.

Anthony Davis had another stellar postseason performance, finishing with 28 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks, exerting his dominance on every facet of the game.

The real hero for the Pelicans in the victory was forward Nikola Mirotic, who scored a career playoff-high 30 points on 12-of-15 shooting in just 30 minutes of action.

The Blazers backcourt performed better than they did in Portland, combining for 42 points on 14-of-30 shooting, but turnovers plagued them as C.J. McCollum had four while Damian Lillard coughed it up eight times.

After taking a 3-0 lead, the 6-seeded Pelicans have stunned the NBA world with the chance to close out the series on Saturday.

Eliminating the feisty Blazers will be a tough task, but if New Orleans can translate these three takeaways into Game 4, they’ll put themselves in a great position to advance to the second round for the first time since 2008.