Pregame: Trail Blazers at Pelicans

On the second night of a back-to-back, Portland looks for its sixth straight win against New Orleans. How will the Blazers deal with Zion Williamson?

Opponent: New Orleans Pelicans (12-15 overall, 5-5 last 10 games)

Offensive Rating: 114.6 (seventh)
Defensive Rating: 114.8 (29th)
Net Rating: -0.1 (15th)

Where: Smoothie King Center (New Orleans)
When: 6:00 p.m. (PST)
Broadcast: NBC Sports Northwest/FOX Sports New Orleans

Point Spread: New Orleans -3
Moneyline: New Orleans -152, Portland +128
Over/Under: 235.5

Injuries/Health

• Portland: Rodney Hood (questionable), Harry Giles (out), Zach Collins (out), C.J. McCollum (out), Jusuf Nurkic (out)
• New Orleans: None

Primer: Zion Williamson, shocker, is already living up to his potential as the league's most dominant offensive force. The overall stats speak for themselves, but none more than 81.1 percent of his shots coming from the restricted area – a mind-blowing number for a player with Williamson's usage rate.

There's just no one in the NBA who combines power, explosiveness, quickness and speed like Williamson. And contrary to his injury-riddled rookie season, he's showing off those historic athletic traits on a nightly basis now, looking much like the same player who took the basketball world by storm during his freshman season at Duke.

The dunks get the most attention, but it's Williamson's aerial body control and soft touch that makes him arguably the best finisher in basketball. How many players in NBA history could do this to Rudy Gobert?

The Trail Blazers don't have the luxury of this generation's best rim-protector patrolling the paint. They might have been able to get away with playing Enes Kanter on Williamson last season, but not now that Stan Van Gundy has begun further empowering his young star as a halfcourt playmaker. Even Nurkic probably would have been overburdened dealing with this evolving version of Williamson.

Cue Robert Covington, whose insanely quick hands and keen defensive instincts will be his lone advantage. It'll take a team effort for Portland to keep Williamson in check, with aggressive post double-teams and early loading to the rim in semi-transition looming largest. 

At least Williamson isn't surrounded by consistent, knockdown shooters. He still plays most of his minutes at power forward next to a non-shooting center, and J.J. Redick is the only true marksman on the Pelicans' roster. Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball are both much-improved long-range shooters, but prone to bouts of ineffectiveness, and the former still prefers to do his work in mid-range.

It's the other side of the ball where three-point shooting matters most against New Orleans. No team in the league allows more attempts from deep, a result of both Van Gundy's adherence to protecting the rim and the Pelicans' occasionally lacking defensive effort.

Williamson is New Orleans' bellwether, but Portland is most likely to win or lose this game beyond the arc.

Bottom Line: The Blazers may prove helpless against Williamson, but it's tough to imagine the Pelicans offering much defensive resistance, too. If Portland's shooters have enough lift in their legs on the second night of a back-to-back, they'll propel the Blazers to a sixth straight win.

READ MORE: What Anfernee Simons Trade Rumors Say About C.J. McCollum and Gary Trent Jr.