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So a Pelican walks in to a bar and asks the bartender for a broom, the bartender says "what do you need that broom for?" blah blah blah the Pelicans swept the Trail Blazers. Hilarious.
Unfortunately the saying "it's funny because it's true" doesn't mean a joke is automatically funny when it's true. The 6th seed New Orleans Pelicans completed the 4 game sweep of the 3rd seed Portland Trail Blazers and I'm still not funny.
In what has been the biggest surprise of these young playoffs the New Orleans Pelicans finished off the Blazers before game 3 of the OKC/Utah series even tipped off. The Pels sealed game 4 with a monster outing from Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday, who has exploded onto the scene as one of the leagues best two way guards. 2 players combining for 88 points is miraculous, never mind in the playoffs. Jrue Holiday was on fire scoring 41 points while hitting 15 of 23 field goals which was barely better than AD's 15 of 24. The duo was absolutely deadly and their offensive outpouring was enough to out run the Blazers in 4 straight.
While they seem to have found their stride and putting up points has never looked easier, it's important to give credit to Alvin Gentry and the Pelicans coaching staff. The high powered scoring of Damian Lillard was minimized by some remarkable defense. With an incredible rim protector like Davis behind you it is possible for perimeter defenders to fully engage beyond the arc and apply pressure on a ball dominant player like Dame. Eliminating CJ and Lillard as Portland's primary scorers helped force the rest of Portland's inefficient lineup to put the ball in the hoop, something we saw them struggle with all season.
It seems that the Pelicans couldn't have found their stride at a better time, Jrue is playing like the big money guy they signed in the off season, Playoff AD is a freak and Rondo is doing strange Rondo things. All of this success has the Pelicans looking like one of the funnest teams in the league all while raising one huge question. What do they do with Boogie? Let's not worry about that just yet, let's savour the sweep and get excited about seeing AD and the Pels in round 2.