Pelicans complete impressive sweep
Star duo tie record with 88 points
Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday combined to post one of the greatest duo performances in NBA history as the New Orleans Pelicans beat Portland 131-123 to sweep the Trail Blazers from the playoffs on Saturday.
Davis delivered a franchise playoff-record 47 points and Holiday tallied 41 to equal the NBA record (88) for most points by a pair of teammates in a single playoff game as the Pelicans eliminated Portland in four straight games.
The tally allows them to join John Havlicek and Jo Jo White in the 1973 postseason, and it beat Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen’s best total together by one point.
The Pelicans’ series sweep of the Trail Blazers moves them into the second round for only the second time since the NBA returned to the city 16 years ago.
C.J. McCollum led Portland with 38 points. Al-Farouq Aminu scored 27, Damian Lillard added 18 points and Jusuf Nurkic had 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Elsewhere, Australian Ben Simmons became the first rookie since 1980 with a triple-double in a playoff game, helping spark the Philadelphia 76ers over the Miami Heat 106-102.
Simmons scored 17 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and passed off 10 assists while J.J. Redick had 24 points to lead seven double-digit scorers for the Sixers, who seized a 3-1 edge over the Heat in their best-of-seven opening round series. Simmons became the first rookie since Magic Johnson to manage a tripledouble in a playoff game and, at 21, is the third-youngest to accomplish the feat after Johnson and Cleveland’s LeBron James.
Dwyane Wade came off the Miami bench to score a game-high 25 points, but the Heat face elimination in Game 5 on Tuesday at Philadelphia.
In Utah, Ricky Rubio had 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists and Donovan Mitchell added 22 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 115-102 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder and a 2-1 lead in their series.
Also, Jimmy Butler scored 28 points and Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves toppled the Houston Rockets 121-105 in Game 3 for their first playoff win in 14 years.