New Orleans Pelicans – Portland Trail Blazers · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 16 March 2021

NOP124–125POR

Is it worth watching?

Recommended

It was more exciting than 57% of NBA games since 2017

· It was still open in the final minutes

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ POR winsNOP wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when POR leads and falls when NOP does.

This is how the game was decided.

Damian Lillard decided it, the Portland Trail Blazers player with the most points (50, with 6 rebounds and 10 assists; +9 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Robert Covington's (+11). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Portland Trail Blazers 125-124 New Orleans Pelicans (March 16, 2021) was hit by Damian Lillard: a free throw with 1.2 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Portland Trail Blazers up 125-124. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Portland Trail Blazers 125-124 New Orleans Pelicans (March 16, 2021) was a 16-0 run by the Portland Trail Blazers in the fourth quarter (from 5:42 to 2:41), from 100-117 to 116-117. The New Orleans Pelicans' best was a 8-0 run in the second quarter (from 6:57 to 5:27), from 43-35 to 51-35.

What were the keys of the last Portland Trail Blazers vs New Orleans Pelicans game?

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Damian Lillard makes free throw 2 of 2.

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Damian Lillard decided this game: his points put his team ahead with 1.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 11 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Lillard decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

16 March 2021 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401307399:642; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · NOP

Ingram · Ball · Williamson · Bledsoe · Alexander-Walker

Closing lineup · POR

Lillard · Covington · McCollum · Anthony · Trent

Q1Q2Q3Q4

NOP

Brandon Ingram

36′ · -4

Lonzo Ball

35′ · -4

Zion Williamson

33′ · -3

Eric Bledsoe

27′ · -12

Steven Adams

25′ · +4

Josh Hart

28′ · -2

Nickeil Alexander-Walker

25′ · +2

Jaxson Hayes

19′ · +6

Kira Lewis Jr.

9′ · +6

Willy Hernangomez

2′ · 0

POR

Damian Lillard

41′ · +9

Robert Covington

37′ · +11

Enes Freedom

28′ · -7

CJ McCollum

26′ · -8

Derrick Jones Jr.

18′ · 0

Carmelo Anthony

30′ · +1

Nassir Little

18′ · -11

Gary Trent Jr.

32′ · +8

Rodney Hood

11′ · +2

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. NOP and POR.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

New Orleans Pelicans

Ingram, Ball, Williamson, Bledsoe, and Adams played 17.2 minutes together.
Hart, Williamson, Hayes, Alexander-Walker, and Lewis played 8.2 minutes together.
Ingram, Ball, Hart, Alexander-Walker, and Adams played 4.3 minutes together.

The plus-minus of each New Orleans Pelicans lineup is not shown: its rotation stints do not add up with each other.

Portland Trail Blazers

Jones, Freedom, Lillard, McCollum, and Covington played 11.5 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Trent, Little, Freedom, Lillard, and Anthony played 9.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 7 points.
Trent, Lillard, McCollum, Covington, and Anthony played 5.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 9 points.

▸See every lineup of the game

New Orleans Pelicans

Ingram, Ball, Hart, Bledsoe, and Adams played 3.5 minutes together.
Ingram, Ball, Hart, Hayes, and Alexander-Walker played 3.2 minutes together.
Ingram, Hart, Hayes, Alexander-Walker, and Bledsoe played 2.3 minutes together.
Ball, Hart, Williamson, Hayes, and Alexander-Walker played 2.1 minutes together.
Hernangomez, Ingram, Ball, Williamson, and Alexander-Walker played 2.1 minutes together.
Ingram, Ball, Hart, Williamson, and Bledsoe played 1.5 minutes together.
Ingram, Hart, Hayes, Alexander-Walker, and Lewis played 1.2 minutes together.
Hart, Williamson, Hayes, Alexander-Walker, and Bledsoe played 1.1 minutes together.

Portland Trail Blazers

Trent, Little, McCollum, Covington, and Anthony played 5.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 5 points.
Trent, Lillard, Covington, Hood, and Anthony played 4.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 8 points.
Jones, Freedom, Lillard, Covington, and Hood played 3.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Jones, Trent, Freedom, Lillard, and Covington played 2.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Trent, McCollum, Covington, Hood, and Anthony played 2.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Trent, Little, Lillard, Covington, and Anthony played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Damian Lillard covered 4.59 km, more than anyone in the game.

Damian Lillard touched the ball 92 times, a game high.
Lonzo Ball made 77 passes, a game high.
Robert Covington defended 9 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 8.
Enes Freedom had 15 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

New Orleans Pelicans

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Brandon Ingram	4.33	6.7	80	45
Zion Williamson	4.23	7.2	76	52
Lonzo Ball	4.22	6.7	90	77
Nickeil Alexander-Walker	3.43	7.7	39	24
Josh Hart	3.39	6.7	46	31
Eric Bledsoe	2.99	6.3	49	37
Steven Adams	2.88	6.6	39	34
Jaxson Hayes	2.24	6.7	13	11
Kira Lewis Jr.	1.29	8.0	13	13
Willy Hernangomez	0.31	6.8	2	2

Portland Trail Blazers

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Damian Lillard	4.59	6.3	92	55
Robert Covington	4.15	6.2	53	44
Gary Trent Jr.	3.80	6.7	37	21
CJ McCollum	3.28	7.0	45	29
Enes Freedom	3.12	6.5	31

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2020-21 regular season, not this game.

New Orleans Pelicans

Zion Williamson recovered 1.1 loose balls per game over his 61 games.
He ranks 12 of 364 in the league.
Steven Adams contested 9.3 shots per game over his 58 games.
He ranks 24 of 364 in the league.
Lonzo Ball deflected 2.5 passes per game over his 55 games.
He ranks 30 of 364 in the league.

Portland Trail Blazers

Robert Covington deflected 3.6 passes per game over his 70 games.
He ranks 2 of 364 in the league.
Damian Lillard recovered 1.0 loose balls per game over his 67 games.
He ranks 31 of 364 in the league.
CJ McCollum recovered 0.9 loose balls per game over his 47 games.
He ranks 47 of 364 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Portland Trail Blazers have won 25 of their 51 games against the New Orleans Pelicans.

25-26record of the Portland Trail Blazers · NBA 2013-14 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

3-1in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 2013-14 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Scoring

249

combined points

24.8 above the season average (224.2)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

21 calls reviewed0 no admitted errors