With Anthony Davis ruled out with an injury to his right pelvis, it seemed like the New Orleans Pelicans (12-11) were going to be in for a rough night on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers (13-10).
However, DeMarcus Cousins assumed the role of leader and put up 38 points and eight boards to help the Pelicans get back above .500 with a 123-116 victory.
It wasn’t all easy as the Blazers got out to an early 9-3 lead thanks to Jusuf Nurkic and held on to make it a 33-26 lead after the first quarter.
The Pelicans kept it close for much of the second quarter thanks to 13 points from Cousins and took a 60-57 lead at the break thanks to a three-pointer from Rajon Rondo with 11 seconds left.
It was all Pels in the third quarter, going on an 11-6 run early on. They were able to parlay that into a 16-point lead into the fourth quarter. The Trail Blazers slowly chipped away at the lead in final moments, but it was too little too late as the Pelicans were able to hold on in the final moments.
The Pelicans will return to action on Monday when they take on the Golden State Warriors (17-6) in the Smoothie King Center with tipoff set for 7 pm.
-Clint Domingue