The Portland Trail Blazers got a big win over the Anthony Davis-less New Orleans Pelicans Thursday, with a 132-119 victory at the Moda Center.

Both during halftime and after the game, the Inside the NBA crew on TNT had a lot to say about Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic and the Trail Blazers. Here's a look at the key takeaways about the Blazers from Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson and Shaq.

HALFTIME

Kenny Smith goes inside the play on the big board to discuss Damian Lillard's play: "The ability to shoot from this range [four feet behind the 3-point line] creates all of his offense and the offense for the whole team, so he and McCollum can kind of take advantage, because when you make shots like this, all of a sudden the floor is stretched. That changes the whole dynamic of how you have to guard him, so everyone else in the whole picture will benefit.

Now, when he comes off a screen in the pick and roll, the second defender has to come out. Now, [the screen man] is going to get an easy basket and no matter how much [Nurkic] fumbles the ball, he's going to get an easy dunk because he has stretched the floor so much.

Then, lastly, they run these down screens for him. And now when he catches the ball, Lillard is already sizing up the big who has to come out and defend him because he's been hitting so many threes, so what do I do if I'm Dame Dolla? Oh, I'm gonna put you on skates. Put him on his heels, make him dance and then finish in the lane strong. Dame Lillard, the triple threat of NBA point guards."

Barkley on Damian Lillard: "Those shots that Lillard be taking... you like those shots [from very long range]?"

Shaq: "When they go in, yes. When they go in."

Kenny Smith: "He's elevated himself to close to the Steph Curry freedom. He's right behind Steph in that freedom. Like ... McCollum sometimes tries to take those tough shots and you can't have both of them doing that [at the same time]."

Charles Barkley: "I agree with Shaq. I don't like a lot of shots like that."

Kenny Smith: "I wouldn't want to shoot a diet of it. But a dessert of that is cool."

Shaq: Kenny, he took five of those shots, how many is he gonna make?"

Kenny Smith: "Two. 2-for-5."

Charles Barkley: "To me, Shaq, that's not good enough."

Kenny Smith: "Yeah, [but if you double that] 4-for-10 is 12 points. "

Charles Barkley: "The problem is, that's not a good offense."

POSTGAME

Charles Barkley: "No Anthony Davis, no chance [for the Pelicans]."

Ernie Johnson: "He played last night against Golden State, but did not play in this one."

Charles Barkley: "That don't sound like a good business decision, to play against the Warriors instead of these Blazers." (everyone laughs) "I'd wanna play against the Blazers not the Warriors."

Ernie Johnson: "... and here, Jusuf Nurkic for three!"

Kenny Smith: "Jusuf Nurkic is a pretty good player."

Ernie Johnson: "... and then Damian Lillard, the triple threat [for three]."

Kenny Smith: "He's a very good player."

Shaq: "I like that shot right there."

The highlights show Jusuf Nurkic doing a "this is our house" celebration, and Charles Barkley takes exception to that, saying: "C'mon, man. You playing the Pelicans without Anthony Davis. Stop it." (everyone laughs) "C'mon you out here talking about "this is our house" when you playing the Pelicans without Anthony Davis after they just kicked your ass in the playoffs last year." (everyone laughs).

Kenny Smith: "What happened last year, Chuck?"

Charles Barkley: "Oh, they just kicked their ass." (everyone laughs) "But all of a sudden they wanna talk about this is their house? They came here, they took their peanut butter and jelly sandwich, took their lunch money and told them to get out the damn house. Now, all of a sudden with no Anthony Davis, they're all like, 'It's our house!'" (everyone laughs)

Ernie Johnson: "The Blazers have now won three in a row!"

Charles Barkley: "That's a good team there, Ernie. Dame Lillard said something really good. Their bench is much improved."

Ernie Johnson: "With a healthy Anthony Davis, who's a higher playoff seed? The Pelicans or the Blazers?"

Charles Barkley: "The Blazers! The Blazers got it all. I worry about their toughness, but they got a better team. Last year was unique. When you get in a seven-game series you got Rondo and Holiday who just kicked those buys' butts. Davis was himself, but the Blazers are going to have a better record than the Pelicans [this season]."

Shaq: "The Blazers remind me of the Washington Wizards. They have two guards that play great together, but sometimes we say you need to break them up. I'm just saying."

Charles Barkley: "But the Blazers are a much better team than the Wizards, you agree?"

Shaq: "I'm not talking about that..."

Charles Barkley: "I know what you're saying, but who's the better team [Blazers or Wizards]?"

Shaq: "I don't know ... well ... the Blazers" (everyone laughs).

Kenny Smith: "No, they're not like Beal and Wall. The consistency of the regular season, [Lillard and McCollum] do produce. What happened last year [in the playoffs against the Pelicans] was an anomaly. I don't think that's something that's going to continue to happen because they just met the perfect storm of two guys who felt underrated with Rondo and Holiday at the same time ... but I would agree, the Blazers are going to be a much better regular season team than the Pelicans this year."