Portland Trail Blazers: 3 reasons the season is over

2. The Pelicans stars stepped up

Coming into series, must people believed Anthony Davis was the best player, but thought the Blazers had the next two best players. It turned out that the Pelicans had the best four players in the series with Davis, Jrue Holiday, Rajon Rondo and Nikola Mirotic, and they dominated the Blazers on both ends of the floor.

Here are the numbers for the Pelicans’ four best players.

• Anthony Davis averaged 33.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.8 blocks, 1.8 steals and 1.3 assists in 38.8 minutes per game while shooting 57 percent from the field and 30 percent from the 3-point line.
• Jrue Holiday averaged 27.8 points, 6.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 37.4 minutes per game while shooting 56.8 percent from the field and 35 percent from the 3-point line.
• Nikola Mirotic averaged 18.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, 1.8 steals and 1.5 assists in 37.3 minutes per game while shooting 57.1 percent from the field and 46.2 from the 3-point line.
• Rajon Rondo averaged 13.3 assists, 11.3 points and 7.5 rebounds in 35.4 minutes per game while shooting 48.7 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from the 3-point line.

Those four players combined for 90.4 points, 33.0 rebounds, 22.6 assists, 6.1 blocks, 5.7 steals per game while shooting 55.7 percent from the field and 40.5 percent from the 3-point line.

Holiday showed that he is one of the best two-way players in the NBA. He defended the Blazers’ guards and then outscored them as well. He always seemed to hit the big shots and make the big plays when they mattered.

Everyone knows Davis is one of the best players in the NBA and he showed that against Portland. Just like most of the league, the Blazers had nobody on their team to defend Davis, and he did whatever he wanted to do for four games.

His presence down low on defense made them think twice about driving and attempting a shot near him. His powerful lob dunks ignited his team and demoralized the Blazers.

Playoff Rondo showed up again, this time for the Pelicans. He controlled the pace of the game and opened up the offense with his ability to attack the basket and always find the open guy. In Game 1, Rondo had 17 assists. He is a veteran in the league and has some of the most playoff experience and it showed.

Mirotic was the X-factor for the Pelicans. He was lights out whenever he shot, and no shot seemed too tricky. Mirotic stood a few steps behind the 3-point line, and that spaced the Blazers defense out.

He was also active on defense with his ability to defend guards out on the wing and has good feet for a big guy. Mirotic hit multiple big shots in this series.