Pelicans vs. Trail Blazers Recap: The Good, the Bad and the Ball

The New Orleans Pelicans leapfrogged the Portland Trail Blazers in the standings thanks to Brandon Ingram and Jrue Holiday.

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The New Orleans Pelicans spoiled Carmelo Anthony’s debut with the Portland Trail Blazers, beating the Trail Blazers 115-104 for their fifth win of the season. Here was the good, the bad and the Ball from Tuesday’s game.

The Good: The Starters

The Pelicans got their leading scorer Brandon Ingram back on Tuesday and he picked up right where he left off. In 34:33, he scored 21 points and added seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block. However, for the first time in a while, he wasn’t the team’s leading scorer — that was Jrue Holiday.

Holiday finished the game with 22 points and 10 assists for his third triple-double of the regular season. Tuesday also marked his third game with at least 20 points in the last four games. With Ball sidelined, Holiday’s stepped up in a big way, as has JJ Redick, who scored 18 points for the Pelicans.

When Ball eventually returns from the adductor strain that has kept him out of the last six games, Gentry will have to decide whether or not it’s worth jeopardizing the chemistry and, most importantly, the success the new-look first unit has looked in Ball’s absence.

The Bad: The Portland Trail Blazers

Coming off of their best finish since the 2013-14 season, the Trail Blazers are the second-worst team in the NBA with a 5-10 record. While they’re hoping Carmelo Anthony will help them break out of their slump, he doesn’t offer much on the defensive end, which has been one of their main areas of struggle.

For their sake, they better hope Jusuf Nurkic comes back looking as good as he did last season and Anthony resembles a starting caliber player.

The Ball

Lonzo Ball missed his sixth straight game with an adductor strain. He will be re-evaluated on Wednesday.

Kyle Shanahan: Ross Dwelley is 49ers best football player

Tight end Ross Dwelley received high praise from his head coach after his two-touchdown game and ever-changing role.

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Ross Dwelley has worn a ton of hats for the 49ers this season. Most recently he took on the role of the No. 1 tight end with George Kittle out. He turned his new job into a pair of touchdown catches and a crucial third-down grab to extend the game-winning drive in the 49ers’ 36-26 win over the Cardinals on Sunday.

Prior to that, he served as the fullback while Kyle Juszczyk was hurt, and before that he was primarily a blocking tight end who was playing fewer than half the snaps each game.

His wide-ranging skill set and ever-changing job description earned him high praise from 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan during his Monday press conference.

“I mean, we respect the heck out of him, I said he was the best football player on our team yesterday, so I don’t mind messing with his average,” Shanahan told reporters when asked about Dwelley’s 3.5 yards per catch vs. Arizona. “He also had a 14-yarder called back, so that’s where he got messed up, or it was 10 yards, I’m not sure, but it’s better to keep his average down just so we keep him humbled. We don’t want him to get carried away.”

Shanahan was speaking in jest about the second-year tight end, but what Dwelley’s been able to do this season as a former undrafted free agent from the University of San Diego is very impressive. He played a combined 194 snaps the first eight games combined.

With Kittle nursing ankle and knee injuries and out for Weeks 10 and 11, Dwelley saw his snap count increase to 145 in those games. He’s been a different kind of Swiss Army knife for the 49ers’ offense, and having players like him is invaluable in a scheme that thrives on deception.

It’s hard to quantify the ‘best football player’ on the 49ers, but Dwelley’s ability to adapt to different roles on the fly certainly earns him a spot in the conversation.

Cardinals begin bye week a day early

Kliff Kingsbury canceled the practice scheduled for Wednesday.

The Arizona Cardinals were scheduled to have two practices on their bye week. They were to practice on Tuesday and Wednesday before getting the league-mandated four days off for the bye.

The Cardinals got one day of work in on Tuesday and that was it. According to Darren Urban for the official team site, head coach Kliff Kingsbury canceled their Wednesday practice, giving the players five days off instead of four.

The extra day will allow players a little extra to get away before a December grind. They will play five games in December, including three against NFC West opponents.

It is the latest bye the Cardinals have had since 1991.

The Cardinals are off, but the coverage from here are Cards Wire will continue. Make sure you come back for more during the rest of the week.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.

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Deshaun Watson: Texans WR Keke Coutee is going to ‘help us out as we make this run’

After a two-week hiatus as a healthy scratch, Keke Coutee found his way back to the Houston Texans’ lineup in Sunday’s blowout loss to the Ravens. Coutee’s quarterback, Deshaun Watson, is elated for the return of the second-year wide receiver. “It’s always good to get Keke back out there and get his confidence up,” said Watson on Tuesday.

After a two-week hiatus as a healthy scratch, Keke Coutee found his way back to the Houston Texans’ lineup in Sunday’s blowout loss to the Ravens. Coutee’s quarterback, Deshaun Watson, is elated for the return of the second-year wide receiver. “It’s always good to get Keke back out there and get his confidence up,” said Watson on Tuesday.

Deshaun Watson: Texans WR Keke Coutee is going to ‘help us out as we make this run’

After a two-week hiatus as a healthy scratch, Keke Coutee found his way back to the Houston Texans’ lineup in Sunday’s blowout loss to the Ravens. Coutee’s quarterback, Deshaun Watson, is elated for the return of the second-year wide receiver. “It’s always good to get Keke back out there and get his confidence up,” said Watson on Tuesday.

After a two-week hiatus as a healthy scratch, Keke Coutee found his way back to the Houston Texans’ lineup in Sunday’s blowout loss to the Ravens. Coutee’s quarterback, Deshaun Watson, is elated for the return of the second-year wide receiver. “It’s always good to get Keke back out there and get his confidence up,” said Watson on Tuesday.

Deshaun Watson: Texans WR Keke Coutee is going to ‘help us out as we make this run’

Houston Texans wide receiver Keke Coutee is going to help the team out in their playoff run, says quarterback Deshaun Watson.

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After a two-week hiatus as a healthy scratch, Keke Coutee found his way back to the Houston Texans’ lineup in Sunday’s blowout loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The Red Raider played 72% (44) of offensive snaps in Week 11, recording three catches for 25 yards.

While coaches haven’t explained directly why Coutee did not play in Weeks 8 and 9, they did allude to a lack of attention to detail as a reason being his removal from the offense.

Coutee’s quarterback, Deshaun Watson, is elated for the return of the second-year wide receiver.

“It’s always good to get Keke back out there and get his confidence up,” said Watson on Tuesday. “He’s a great help for this team, he’s a great football player, great teammate, just a great person, a brother.”

In theory, Coutee is supposed to be the quarterback’s slot sidekick. Though he briefly fell out of favor at the position, there remains hope that he can develop into a reliable, speedy weapon in Houston’s offense.

“You just kind of make sure that he’s staying along, staying encouraged and that’s what we’ve been doing,” continued Watson. “He’s definitely going to help us out as we make this run.”

Coutee has 16 receptions for 179 yards in seven games for the Texans in 2019. In 2018, he recorded 28 for 287 yards and a touchdown. His specialist, as a rookie, was dicing up the Indianapolis Colts.

In two games against the Colts in 2018 (including playoffs), Coutee recorded 22 receptions for 219 yards and a touchdown. His momentum against the Colts took a halting stop in Week 7 when he dropped a pass; resulting in a game-losing interception.

On Thursday, Coutee will get an opportunity for redemption. The Texans host the Colts on the short week. With a job within Houston’s offense in his name, Coutee can either prove he is the “Colt Killer” or that his success against them in 2018 was a fluke.

Carmelo Anthony tried to posterize Jaxson Hayes in Trail Blazers debut

In his first game back, Carmelo Anthony tried to posterize Jaxson Hayes but his shot attempt was blocked by the rookie.

After officially signing a one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, 16-year NBA veteran Carmelo Anthony made his debut with his new team Tuesday night against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Just after joining the Trail Blazers, Anthony was in the starting lineup as it was reported he was scheduled to play about 20 minutes or so in his first game. Anthony missed his first shot attempt less than a minute into the game but drained a 3-pointer on the next possession for his first bucket with the Trail Blazers.

Anthony recorded five points in the first quarter on 2-of-4 shooting from the field and even tried his hand at a poster dunk. A few minutes into the second period, Anthony drove the ball to the rim but was met by Jaxson Hayes. The Pelicans rookie quickly slid over to contest the attempt perfectly, rejecting the shot by Anthony.

Anthony finished with 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting from the field, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range in 23 minutes of work as the Trail Blazers lost, 115-104.

Of course, after not playing in the NBA for over a year, Anthony was certainly going to have some rust.

He will need to continue to work on his conditioning but it may not take long for the future Hall of Famer to get his game speed back.

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USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Nov. 19: Conor McGregor keeps on slipping

Conor McGregor hasn’t won a fight in three years, and our latest rankings are about what’s hot now, not then.

If [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] fought a fraction as often as he tweeted about potential fights, and then went out and won those fights, he’d be atop the pound-for-pound rankings list.

And make no mistake, when when MMA’s prodigal son does make his return to the octagon, it will still be a very big deal.

But in the meantime, the rankings move on. You wouldn’t put USC football No. 1 in the polls this year based on what they did in the Reggie Bush Era. Likewise, McGregor’s accomplishments in winning the UFC featherweight and lightweight championships in 2015 and 2016 are increasingly irrelevant when putting together rankings lists as we head into the 2019 holiday season.

McGregor has not won a fight since he beat Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight belt in November 2016. His only MMA fight since was a loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018.

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UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who is No. 9 in this week’s USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie pound-for-pound rankings, had not even made his UFC debut the last time McGregor won a fight.

McGregor is no longer on the pound-for-pound list. He’s no longer in the featherweight rankings. Lightweight? Well, he’s still listed there, but he’s no longer on the short list of title contenders.

We’ve got “The Notorious” in at No. 12 at 155 pounds this week. Maybe he’ll announce a fight soon and have the opportunity to prove he should still be listed with the likes of Nurmagomedov, Tony Ferguson, and Justin Gaethje. But for now, he’s right on the edge of becoming yesterday’s news.

To find out where last week’s winners and losers — like UFC on ESPN+ 22 main eventers [autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag] and [autotag]Ronaldo Souza[/autotag] — shake out in the week’s rankings, click on the drop-down menu above.

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Deontay Wilder playing with fire by fighting Luis Ortiz again

Luis Ortiz came within a few punches of knocking out Deontay Wilder in March of last year yet Wilder agreed to fight him again.

Say what you want about Deontay Wilder but you have to agree: The man has nerve.

Luis Ortiz came within a few punches of knocking out the heavyweight titleholder in March of last year but Wilder survived and turned the tables, stopping Ortiz in Round 10. So what does Wilder do? He agrees to fight Ortiz again.

He didn’t have to do that, which isn’t lost on one interested party.

“Deontay Wilder is a throwback fighter like me, and we both want to fight the best,” said Ortiz, who, like Wilder, arrived Tuesday at the MGM Grand for their fight Saturday in Las Vegas. “I believe I’m the best and that’s why I’m getting this rematch.”

Wilder (41-0-1, 40 knockouts) seconded that notion.

“Even though I knocked Ortiz out the first time, it was an amazing fight,” he said. “That was the fight that I was challenged the most. I understand why none of the other heavyweights want to fight Ortiz.

Luis Ortiz arrives at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for his second shot at Deontay Wilder on Saturday. Stephanie Trapp / TGB Promotions

“He’s very dangerous and I blessed him with a second chance,” continued Wilder. “Fans always get their money’s worth when I’m on the big stage.”

Wilder is coming off a Knockout of the Year candidate in May, a one-punch stoppage of Dominic Breazeale in Brooklyn. That followed Wilder’s controversial draw with Tyson Fury, who waits in the wings to see who will win on Saturday.

Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs) has beaten three journeymen since the setback against Wilder, the last being a unanimous-decision victory over Christian Hammer in March.

However, the 40-year-old Cuban also has destroyed the contenders he has faced since turning pro in 2010, which is why few heavyweights have been eager to face him. Among his victims: Lateef Kayode, Bryant Jennings, Tony Thompson and Malik Scott.

Wilder and Ortiz appear to be serious about their rematch. Stephanie Trapp / TGB Promotions

Ortiz expects to give a vintage performance on Saturday.

“I’m focused on this fight and this fight only and doing everything to have my hand raised Saturday night,” he said.

Wilder also is confident.

“People know what I’m able to do to another human being inside of that ring,” he said. “I can’t wait for Saturday night.”

Report: Hamidou Diallo out against the Lakers

Diallo will miss his third straight game as the Thunder guard continues to deal with left knee soreness.

Hamidou Diallo will miss his third straight game on Tuesday.

Billy Donovan announced the decision a little over an hour before tip-off against the Lakers, at around 8:15 p.m CT.

Diallo was first held out of Friday’s win over the 76ers with left knee soreness. He suffered an injury during the Thunder’s loss to the Pacers last week, however, no details about how or when the injury occurred has been made available.

According to The Oklahoman, Donovan had said on Friday that he didn’t expect Diallo to miss much game time.

“We don’t think it’s going to be a thing that requires him sitting out for a long stretch,” Donovan said.

In 10 games this season, Diallo is averaging 8.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in 22 minutes per game while shooting 50% from the field.

Oklahoma City wraps up their two-game West Coast road trip Tuesday night against the Lakers. The Thunder fell 90-88 to the Clippers inside the Staples Center on Monday.