NBA Power Rankings Week 19: LA Clippers get aggressive on buyout market

Last week: Won at Portland 128-115

This week: Sunday at Golden State, Tuesday at Lakers, Friday vs. Cleveland

The New Orleans Pelicans are still four games behind eighth-place Memphis in the Western Conference but opened the second half with a bang Friday night by running out to a double-digit win at Portland. The Pelicans are now 18-10 since Dec. 17, when they lost a franchise-record 13th consecutive game.

New Orleans management may not have wanted to stick Zion Williamson with the task of saving the franchise, but in 11 games since returning from knee surgery, the No. 1 overall pick is putting up 22.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in just 27.6 minutes per game while shooting 57.8 percent overall. He’s 4-for-11 from deep, but 0-for-7 since hitting all four he took in his debut.

Jrue Holiday helped set the tone at Portland with 20 points on just 10 shots, hitting 5-of-10 overall and 4-of-6 from 3-point land in 31 minutes to go with nine assists and four steals. Holiday has dished 40 dimes in the Pelicans’ last four games, three of them victories, and is averaging 19.3 points, 6.6 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 34.6 minutes per game this season.

Last week: Lost at Philadelphia 112-104 (OT), won at Charlotte 115-86

This week: Monday vs. Orlando, Wednesday at Washington, Friday at Atlanta, Saturday at Miami

The Brooklyn Nets returned from the All-Star break having won four of five and six of eight, but let one get away at Philadelphia Thursday night. The Nets came back from 16 points down to lead by 20 — all within the first half — but couldn’t close the game out and fell in overtime.

Superstar free-agent addition Kyrie Irving is done for the season as he will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder after aggravating the impingement that sidelined him for 26 games from mid-November through mid-January, throw in a rest day, a grieving day and six games with a sprained knee and it was the shortest season of Irving’s career.

He averaged 27.4 points (which would have been a career-high save the whole “only played in 20 games” thing) to go with 6.4 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 32.9 minutes per game. While he currently leads the NBA with a 92.2 mark from the free-throw line, Irving will fall short of the 125 makes needed to qualify for the title.

Caris LeVert did not shoot it well in Brooklyn’s two games but did notch 17 points with a career-high six steals in the blowout win at Charlotte on Saturday. In the two games, LeVert had 42 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and seven steals in 69 minutes, even though he was just 16-for-48 from the floor and made 6-of-18 from 3-point range.