Heading into the opening first-round playoff series against Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers, Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans were viewed as the absolute underdogs in the matchup. Portland had secured the third overall spot in the competitive Western Conference while also earning the Northwest division title.

Rajon Rondo and Anthony Davis
Adam Hunger/The Associated Press

However, the Pelicans put together a dominating series sweep over the Trail Blazers that saw their offensive firepower lead the way to a quick battle. With that in mind, New Orleans' official Twitter account used this grand opportunity to poke fun at all 22 of ESPN's analysts and writers that picked against them.

Despite not having homecourt advantage in the series, the Pelicans proved to be too much to handle offensively for the Trail Blazers. They simply had no answer for Anthony Davis, who had averaged a double-double with 33.0 points and 12.0 rebounds along with 2.8 blocks per contest. This included notching at least 20 points in each contest while scoring more than 30 points twice that was highlighted by a franchise-record 47 points in the Game 4 win.

anthony davis

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Meanwhile, the steady play of their backcourt duo of Rajon Rondo and Jrue Holiday outmatched the Blazers' backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum on both ends of the court for much of the series. Holiday was a major factor averaging 27.8 points per contest along with forcing All-Star point guard Damian Lillard to shoot 35.2 percent from the field. Rondo also had balanced play as the lead ball handler averaging a double-double with 11.3 points and 13.3 assists per contest.

The Trail Blazers just couldn't find an answer to stop any of the Pelicans' balanced offensive effort that saw even Nikola Mirotic become a huge offensive factor averaging 18.3 points on 57.1 percent shooting from the field and 46.2 percent from beyond the arc with 9.5 rebounds per game.

Anthony Davis

New Orleans is hitting stride at the right time with each of their core players playing huge factors on both ends of the floor.

The Pelicans could prove to be a dangerous matchup for what looks to be a meeting with the defending champion Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference semifinals. This could set the stage for an entertaining series that could possibly drag out to the full seven games. What this first-round series sweep speaks to is how much of a formidable team the Pelicans are out in the West that could possibly vie for an NBA title.