le thing, OShea said of Gonzaga.BIG PICTUREBryant: Scrappy

NEW ORLEANS -- Its Holiday season in New Orleans all right. One of the Pelicans primary players is back and already helping them win.Jrue Holiday scored 21 points in his first action this season, Anthony Davis had his latest stellar outing with 38 points, nine rebounds and four blocks, and the Pelicans beat the Portland Trail Blazers 113-101 on Friday night.I head a great first game, Holiday said. The thrill was there. It felt good, being a part of a team.Holiday made his season debut after missing the first 12 games to care for his wife, retired soccer star Lauren Holiday, who had brain surgery last month only weeks after giving birth to the couples first child, a daughter.He wound up playing just more than 23 minutes hitting an array of jumpers, including a 3, as well as driving floaters and layups. He finished with seven assists, none more crowd-pleasing than his crisp bounce-pass to a cutting Davis, who finished the play with a thunderous two-handed dunk.Holiday had been in constant contact with coaches and studying game video while on leave, so he wasnt surprised that he quickly got into the rhythm of the offense.There are some new faces around here, but at the same time its the same system, Holiday said. The part that I was really worried about was conditioning. I really thought that I was behind. Maybe I was just excited for this game. I felt like I could play forever.Terrence Jones added 15 points, and Tim Frazier had 12 for the Pelicans. New Orleans built the lead up to 20 in the fourth quarter and cruised to the finished. Theyve won three of five after an 0-8 start.Damian Lillard scored 27 points, and CJ McCollum 24 for Portland, which has lost three straight to fall to 7-7. Mason Plumlee added 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who never got closer than eight points in the second half.We obviously are not playing the best basketball right now, but we are still .500, said Portland forward Ed Davis, who had 11 rebounds in a starting role that required him to attempt to defend his Pelicans namesake. Its not like we are on an eight-game losing streak.We are not in panic mode, he added. Well be all right, man.TIP-INSTrail Blazers: Maurice Harkless scored 10 points, but went 2 of 7 from 3-point range, from where the Blazers went 12 of 34 as a team. ... Portland has scored 100 or more points in 12 of its first 14 games. ... The Blazers, which lost 126-109 in Houston on Thursday night, dropped to 3-4 on the road.Pelicans: Alvin Gentry reached his 800th career game as an NBA head coach. ... New Orleans won its second straight home game after starting 0-5 on its own floor. ... Center Alexis Ajinca sat out with a sore left shoulder.HOLIDAY CHEERThe crowd bellowed, Jruuuuue! as Holiday checked in, and he wasted no time getting involved, assisting on Jones layup the first time he handled the ball on the offensive end.Within four minutes on the court, Holiday scored five points to go with a rebound and assists, and even a block on Noah Vonlehs dunk attempt.Anthony Davis called Holiday instant offense.He comes in, makes great reads, makes plays for himself or others -- and also does it on the defensive end, Davis said. In my eyes, hes one of the top point guards in the league and it showed.DOMINANT DAVISDavis was making shots from all over the court, hitting a pair of 3s to go with usual leaners, floaters, layups and mid-range jumpers.The Pelicans made their first significant push in the final three minutes of the first half. Portland was down 51-47 after Plumlees 16-foot jumper, but Davis responded with a 16-footer of his own that sparked a 13-4 run to close out the half. Davis added six more points during the spurt, hitting a jumper, floater and spinning a reverse layup off the glass with McCollum climbing on his shoulders. Davis also rejected his third Lillard shot of the half, and New Orleans led 64-51 as the horn sounded to end the second quarter.NEW LOOKHoliday wore goggles as a precaution after missing the last nine games of last season because of an inadvertent elbow he took to the head, fracturing his orbital eye wall.He said he hasnt decided yet how long hell wear them.We won so Im probably going to play in them Saturday night, he said. I think I look dorky. Ive already been made fun of by half of the team. Thats OK as long as we get the win.UP NEXTTrail Blazers: Visit Brooklyn on Sunday.Pelicans: Host Charlotte on Saturday night. Eric Gordon Jersey . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta. Clint Capela Rockets Jersey .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at Boston Strong - a citys recovery from tragedy. http://www.therocketsofficial.com/Authentic-Steve-Francis-Rockets-Jersey/ . The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday after the deadline for applications had passed. The candidates -- all previously announced in their own countries -- are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm. Robert Horry Jersey . The Canadian squad, skipped by Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, got on the board first with two in the second end, and followed that with two more apiece in the fourth and sixth ends. Tracy McGrady Rockets Jersey . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed. SPOKANE, Wash. -- One thing was obvious when No. 14 Gonzaga took the floor against Bryant on Friday night: The Zags were a whole lot bigger.Gonzaga put that size to good use.Przemek Karnowski scored 22 points and Johnathan Williams added 20 to help Gonzaga beat Bryant 109-70.Zach Collins added 18 points for Gonzaga (3-0), which is seeking a 19th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.Karnowski and Collins are both 7-footers and Williams is 6-9. Bryants tallest starter was Dan Garvin at 6-6.We had a huge size advantage, Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. You take what they give you.Five players scored in double figures for Gonzaga, which shot 55.7 percent from the floor to 42.6 percent for Bryant. Gonzaga won the rebound battle 39-34, and had a 50-30 advantage on points in the paint.Nisre Zouzoua scored 22 points and Adam Grant had 17 for Bryant (1-2), which lost to Gonzaga the only previous time the teams met, in 2013.They have tremendous size, not just in the starting lineup but off the bench, Bryant coach Tim OShea said. Even on the wing spots theyve got tremendous length.I thought for the most part of the game we competed pretty good, OShea said.Despite the lopsided score, Few noted that Bryant was always in striking distance for much of the game.Gonzaga enjoyed a big advantage at the free throw line, sinking 34-of-45 free throws. Bryant made 11-of-19.Both teams are known as the Bulldogs.Gonzaga was coming off a 69-48 win over San Diego State on Monday that was the Aztecs largest margin of defeat in nine seasons, a span of 260 games.The Zags built an early lead and slowly extended it for most of the game. Bryant was undone by 23 turnovers.Our press was good tonight, Few said. It created a lot of adversity for them.Nigel Williams-Goss scored nine Gonzaga points in a row for a 20-10 lead midway through the ffirst.ddddddddddddCollins scored seven straight points as Gonzaga pushed its lead to 27-12. At that point the Zags had made 11-of-15 field goals.Grant hit consecutive 3-pointers to bring Bryant to 34-25. But Gonzaga went on an 11-2 run to rebuild its lead to 18 points.Gonzaga led 50-38 at halftime, thanks to 16 points by Karnowski and 63 percent shooting. Grant had 17 points for Bryant in the first, including four 3-pointers, and they shot nearly 54 percent from the field.Both teams cooled off from the field in the second half, but Gonzaga relentlessly pulled away for the easy win.I think theyve got all the ingredients of a team that has the potential to make a run at the whole thing, OShea said of Gonzaga.BIG PICTUREBryant: Scrappy but undersized Bryant couldnt overcome Gonzagas size and hot shooting.Gonzaga: Taller Gonzaga had trouble putting Bryant away early despite good shooting, especially in the first half. Zags pull away in the second.UP NEXTBryant plays at Eastern Washington in nearby Cheney in the Legends Classic on Monday.Gonzaga plays Quinnipiac at the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday.POLL IMPLICATIONSGonzaga concluded a three-game home stand that featured three easy wins that are not likely to command much extra attention from Top 25 voters.NATIVE AMERICAN COLORSIn honor of Native American Heritage Month, Gonzaga wore customized turquoise uniforms. The color is symbolic of friendship in Native American cultures. The National Anthem was sung in Salish, a Native American language.VERSUS RHODE ISLANDGonzaga is 2/3 against teams from Rhode Island. It has beaten Bryant twice, and lost twice to Providence and once to the University of Rhode Island. ' ' '