Coming off a season opening road loss at Golden State, the New Orleans Pelicans finished their road back to back in Portland, facing a Trail Blazers team who opened their season on Wednesday night.

Defensive breakdowns, poor movement on offense and sluggish play from the Pelicans carried over from the Warriors loss to the first half in Portland as the Blazers racked up 70 first half points on their way to a 112-94 victory.

It was ugly for the Pels, who remain shorthanded with injuries to Tyreke Evans, Norris Cole, Quincy Pondexter, Omer Asik and Luke Babbitt, while starting point guard Jrue Holiday remains on a minute restriction.

Health issues aside, the listless play by the Pelicans through the first six quarters of the season, along with superstar Anthony Davis' uncharacteristic struggles are alarming.

"I'm really disappointed in the start, but for the most part, I thought in the second half we competed and played hard," said Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry. "We still got 80 games to play, hopefully this will be something we won't have to revisit in the future."

The second half was a different story for the Pelicans, and in particular, Davis. 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting, 3 three pointers an 2 blocks highlighted his second half, while he finished the game with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Eric Gordon scored 20, Ryan Anderson added 19 off the bench, and Dante Cunningham's defense and hustle in the second half helped the Pelicans close the deficit to 8 points with less than 4 minutes to play.

While the second half is a slight positive, New Orleans still have a long way to go in a new offensive and defensive system.

Things won't get easier for the Pelicans. Their strength of schedule through December is the toughest in the NBA (based on 2014-15 record of opponent).

Next up, a Halloween home opener at the Smoothie King Center as the Pelicans host Golden State on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 6:30.

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