Shaedon Sharpe, Deni Avdija Get Trail Blazers Back in Win Column
Portland put away the Pelicans to pick up the first win of their five-game road trip.
📍NEW ORLEANS — It wasn't the cleanest game, but the Trail Blazers snapped a two-game losing streak on Wednesday night against the Pelicans and won their first game of this five-game road trip.
More importantly, Shaedon Sharpe's early-season slump could be over.
As he navigated calf soreness and a soft minutes restriction, Sharpe got off to a rough shooting start to the season that was the opposite of an impressive summer and training camp that culminated in him landing a four-year, $90 million extension and beating out Jerami Grant for a starting spot.
The Sharpe that has shown up on this road trip, that had 35 points on 13-of-18 shooting along with five rebounds, three assists and two steals, was much closer to what the Blazers expected, and need.
"This was training-camp Shae," Donovan Clingan said afterwards.
Beyond just Sharpe's breakout weekend, and Deni Avdija's continued excellence, it felt good for them to see their continued battling late in these road games end in a win after they dropped winnable games in Miami and Orlando to start the trip.
