New Orleans Pelicans center Derik Queen (22) works to get by Portland Trail Blazers guard Jrue Holiday (5) at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (Staff photo by Brett Duke, The Times-Picayune)
STAFF PHOTO BY BRETT DUKE
Shaedon Sharpe scored 35 points and Deni Avdija added 32 to lead four Portland scorers in double figures as the Trail Blazers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 125-117 on Wednesday night in the Smoothie King Center.
Former Pelican Jrue Holiday scored 17 and Toumani Camara had 13 for the Blazers (6-5).
Rookie Derik Queen scored a season-high 26 points, Saddiq Bey had 25, rookie Jeremiah Fears had 15 and Herb Jones added 11 for the Pelicans (2-9). Trey Murphy scored 22 and passed Holiday for second place on the Pelicans’ career list for 3-pointers when he made No. 629 in the first quarter. CJ McCollum leads with 692.
Zion Williamson (hamstring) and Jordan Poole (quad) remained sidelined for the Pelicans but are expected to be re-evaluated during this home stand, which features four more games, starting with one against the Los Angeles Lakers at 7 p.m. Friday.
New Orleans center Yves Missi entered the game early in the second quarter after missing the last four games because of an illness. He was in the game for barely two minutes when he was ejected along with Portland’s Jerami Grant after both were assessed double technical fouls for unsportsmanlike conduct during an altercation under the basket.
The New Orleans bench outscored the Portland bench 44-19.
Avdija scored the first four points of a 17-4 run by Portland to start the third quarter, producing a 75-63 lead. Bey converted a three-point play, and Murphy and Jones added 3-pointers to help New Orleans get within 77-76.
Holiday had two assists then scored seven straight points as the Blazers extended the lead to 14 points on their way to a 95-85 edge at the end of the third quarter.
Bey scored 10 points, Fears added nine and the Pelicans trimmed the lead to 112-109. But Sharpe made a layup, a jumper, a steal and a dunk to help Portland expand the lead to 120-112 with 1:57 left.
Kevon Looney and Bey both committed two fouls less than four minutes into the game, and they were replaced by Queen and Micah Peavy. Along with Fears, the Pelicans had all three of their 2025 draft choices in the lineup together.
Queen went on to score a quarter-high 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting, but the Trail Blazers held a 30-25 lead at the end of the quarter.
The lead changed hands nine times, and the score was tied five times in the second quarter before Bey made two free throws with 1.9 seconds left to give New Orleans a 59-57 halftime lead.