Davis’ 47 leads Pelicans to sweep of Blazers

NEW ORLEANS — Anthony Davis scored 33 of his franchise playoff-record 47 points in the second half, and the New Orleans Pelicans completed a firstround playoff sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers with a 131-123 victory on Saturday.

Jrue Holiday capped his 41-point performance with an 18-foot pull-up jumper that gave the Pelicans a six-point lead with 40 seconds left.

Rajon Rondo added 16 assists, and Davis also had 11 rebounds and three blocks for New Orleans, which is moving on to the second round of the playoffs for only the second time since the NBA returned to the city 16 seasons ago.

C.J. McCollum scored 38 for the Trail Blazers, who responded to a blowout loss in Game 3 by keeping Game 4 close until the final minute. Al-Farouq Aminu scored 27, Damian Lillard added 18 points and Jusuf Nurkic had 18 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out.

Lillard’s difficult driving layup had just tied the game at 60 when the Pelicans briefly pulled away, going on an 11-2 run capped by Davis’ 3.

Soon after, Nikola Mirotic added step-back 3. Davis, who scored 19 in the third quarter, then added a layup while falling down after a hard foul by Aminu, after which Davis flexed both biceps while still sitting on the court.

Portland got as close as a single point on Aminu’s layup with 5:08 to go, but Davis responded with 12 points over the final 4:56, staring with a layup as he was fouled and a 3-pointer. Holiday scored six points during the final 2:52, starting with his 3-pointer. The pair combined for all but one of New Orleans’ points during that pivotal stretch.

Leading up to Game 4, Lillard spoke of the need for the Blazers to ramp up their intensity and physicality. From the tip, it looked as though they’d done so.

In stark contrast to Game 3, when New Orleans led by 18 in the first quarter, this game was tight and testy.

Anthony and Ed Davis received double technical fouls after bumping one another following one of Anthony Davis’ dunks — and that was just the beginning.

McCollum was called for a flagrant foul when he stormed into the lane behind E’Twaun Moore and grabbed the Pelicans guard by the shoulders to thwart a driving layup attempt. Moore then shoved McCollum and was assessed a technical foul.

And in the final seconds of the half, double technical were assessed to Rondo and Portland center Zach Collins after Rondo lowered his forehead into Collins’ chest and Collins shoved back.

Pelicans 131, Trail Blazers 123:

Anthony Davis scored 47 points and Jrue Holiday had 41 as the Pelicans swept the Blazers. CJ McCollum led the Blazers with 38 points.

Popovich will miss game:

Gregg Popovich won’t coach the Spurs in their possible series finale against the Warriors as he grieves the death of his wife, Erin. Spurs assistant Ettore Messina will coach Sunday afternoon.

Erin Popovich passed away Wednesday from a long-term illness. Gregg and Erin were married four decades and have two children and two grandchildren.

“You know how important Pop is, not only for us players, but the whole organization and the whole NBA,” Spurs veteran Manu Ginobili said after practice Saturday. “We probably are in a better situation emotionally and hopefully it fuels us. But it’s hard to tell how a team is going to react.”

Golden State won 110-97 on Thursday night for a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.