Portland @ New Orleans preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 17, 2018 ) New Orleans 111, Portland 102

The New Orleans Pelicans are off to a resounding postseason start and aim to take a 3-0 series lead when they host the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday. Sixth-seeded New Orleans won the opening two games of the Western Conference first-round matchup at Portland and can take a commanding lead with another victory.

Guard Jrue Holiday scored a career playoff-best 33 points in Tuesday's 111-102 victory and coach Alvin Gentry cautioned his players not to get overly giddy following the contest. "We've still got to get two more wins, so we're not overly excited about anything," Gentry told reporters. "We're playing against a really, really well-coached great team. ... That was our message to the team and actually that was their message to each other, that we hadn't done anything yet." Portland star guard Damian Lillard was unable to get untracked in the first two games while coach Terry Stotts said his squad has to return serve by accumulating road wins. "We've got to win two games in New Orleans, and hopefully it's the next two," Stotts told reporters. "It's easy math - we've got to go and win two in New Orleans, and I feel we're very capable of winning both games."

TV: 9 p.m. ET, NBATV, NBCS Northwest (Portland), FS New Orleans

ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS: Lillard averaged 26.9 points during the regular season but has struggled in this series with a 17.5 average on 13-of-41 shooting. "Coming into the playoffs, you know teams are going to lock in, and they're going to try and make the game hard for you," Lillard told reporters. "And I give a lot of credit to them for executing their game plan but the opportunities I do get, I've just got to be better. It's as simple as that." Starting center Jusuf Nurkic (leg) was limited to 15 minutes on Tuesday and swingman Even Turner (toe) missed all six of his field-goal attempts in 20 scoreless minutes.

ABOUT THE PELICANS: Holiday averaged 27 points in the two games in Portland and has thrived during the best of his five seasons in New Orleans. Injury issues and the situation in which his wife Lauren, a former U.S. national soccer player, battled a brain tumor while pregnant that caused him to miss the start of the 2016-17 season created challenges for the 27-year-old. "My family's the most important thing to me, and with them being OK I can come back to the team freely and be able to help them out now," Holiday told reporters. "It's been fun. I feel like my teammates and the organization definitely helped me out coming back from things with my family, and even the injuries, with being able to play and being able to perform at the peak I'm performing."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Pelicans star PF Anthony Davis is averaging 28.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, three steals and two blocks in the series.

2. Portland SF Maurice Harkless (knee) had 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting in 27 minutes in Game 2 in his first action since March 25.

3. New Orleans F Nikola Mirotic (ankle) vows he'll play Thursday after being injured in Game 2.

PREDICTION: Trail Blazers 108, Pelicans 106