On Friday, October 25th, the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Portland Trailblazers, 105-103, to move to 2-0 on the season.

For those who didn’t see the Pelicans vs Blazers game, you missed a good one. Now, it did not start that way, the first half was not the best representation of NBA basketball. Portland shot 37% from the floor and still found themselves up by 10 as the Pelicans shot 31%. The Trailblazers led 47-37 at halftime.

Blazers’ forward Jerami Grant made four three pointers in the first half, which equaled the amount of threes made by the Pelicans as a team.

Zion Williamson shot 1/7 from the floor but was not alone in his bad play as every starter had a negative plus/minus. It was ugly for the Pelicans to say the least.

In the second half, the Pelicans found answers. A big answer to their offensive problems was second year player, Jordan Hawkins. Hawkins scored 22 points in the second half as he shot 7/10 from the floor, 4/7 from three point range and made all four of his free throw attempts.

“Hawk-Eye” as he is affectionately called was a big part of the Pelicans offense finding its rhythm in quarters three and four. New Orleans shot 52% from the floor in the second half as they came back.

Portland did go away easily though, they were able to keep it close. The score was tied at 103 when the Pelicans gained possession after a jump ball with 26 seconds left in the game.

New Orleans got the ball to Brandon Ingram who had a one on one matchup against Anfernee Simons. Ingram took Simons off the dribble and got to his spot for a tough turn around jumper and hit nothing but the bottom of the net to give the Pelicans the 105-103 lead with five seconds left.

Portland still had a chance to either win or tie the game. They set up a play for Simons to get a running start and head towards the rim. Herb Jones does a great job staying in front of him and Zion comes from the side to block the lay-up attempt and seal the game.

This type of win may seem insignificant as its only the second game of the year and it came against an opponent that is expected to miss the playoffs but this win is much bigger than it may appear.

In Brandon We Trust

Brandon Ingram had a very interesting off-season where it was clear that he wanted a new contract and that the Pelicans were not willing to give him one. Ingram was also the center of countless trade rumors.

The Pelicans were not able to find a trade or agree on a contract extension with Ingram. This is the type of situation that can split a team apart, depending on how it is handled. Not only did Ingram come into the season ready to play but the team embraced him and trust him with the game on the line.

This is a great sign that the off the court business of Ingram, will not affect the on-court chemistry off the team.

Coming Through In The Clutch

Last season, the Pelicans struggled in close games. The offense would become stale in the fourth quarter and defensive lapses were more common in clutch situations.

New Orleans only won 35% of those games last season. This game against the Blazers may have gone the other way, last season, but this team found a way to execute on both offense and defense down the stretch of this close game.

This game may foreshadow, what this team is made of. It’s a long season but things are looking up for New Orleans.