What a performance by the Golden State Warriors! After a balanced start, the dubs shoot out all the lights and take a relaxed 123:101 blowout win (BOXSCORE) in Game 1 against the New Orleans Pelicans. Anthony Davis and Co. have absolutely no chance.
While the Pelicans started the series against the reigning champion without any changes after the sweep against Portland, Warriors coach Steve Kerr sent Nick Young to the court instead of JaVale McGee right from the start. The Warriors acted with a slightly smaller lineup and Draymond Green as the main guardian of Anthony Davis.
The Big Man of the Pelicans had his moments in the beginning, similar to his team mates. New Orleans got off to a good start and even took the lead 21-16 with a 7-0 run. Golden State immediately found the right answer, however, and it remained a balanced affair until the end of the first quarter (35:34).
But then the dubs really turned up the heat, Golden State could no longer be held. Kevin Durant mercilessly exploited every mismatch with Nikola Mirotic, the Warriors scored at will – whether by crackling dunking or from downtown. Especially Durant and Klay Thompson heated up the completely powerless Pelicans during this phase.
Two threesomes in a row from the dub’s sniper finally made it 76-48 in between towards the end of the first half, culminating in a 24-2 round for the dubs! Durant and Thompson had 18 points each at this early stage, Green only needed 2 assists for a triple double (12 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists).
The only ray of hope from the Pelican’s point of view was an incomprehensible buzzer beater by Darius Miller, who sunk a three from his own midfield at the end of the first half – 76:55 for Golden State!
However, the pelicans could no longer provide any tension after the page change. The guests from the Big Easy did not make a decisive run, either they failed due to the strong defence of the Dubs or the offense of the hosts thwarted New Orleans.
Golden State extended their lead to 31 points (103:72) towards the end of the third round, and by now the Pelicans had broken. The fourth quarter got to an extended garbage time, with still more than six minutes on the clock Kerr finally took his starters off the field.
At the end of the game, Thompson was still topscorer with 27 points (4/9 triples), Durant contributed 26 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks. Green played the fourth triple double of his playoff career with 16 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists (plus 3 steals and 2 blocks).
On the other hand, Davis advanced to the top scorer with 21 points (9/20 FG) (plus 10 rebounds). E’Twaun Moore scored 15 points, Jordan Crawford scored 14 points in 8 minutes in garbage time. Jrue Holiday caught a used evening (11 points, 4/14 FG).
All in all, the Pelicans were relatively helpless against the offensive fireworks of the Warriors. It will be interesting to see which answers the guests will think about for Game 2 during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Golden State Warriors – New Orleans Pelicans 123:101, Series 1:0 (BOXSCORE)
Draymond Green. The Big Man showed once again the complete package of Scoring, Defense and Hustle. On the one hand he punished that the Pels often left him alone, on the other hand he did a very good job against Davis in his own half of the court. Strong game of Green!
Jrue Holiday. After an excellent first-round series against the Trail Blazers, many Pelicans fans also competed against the reigning champion in Holiday. However, the Point Guard could not meet these requirements in the first game by far. Neither defensively nor offensively Holiday could set no accents.
Which matchups both head coaches will bet on in this series was probably the most eagerly awaited question. Especially in the front court, Davis’ encounter with the Warriors-Defense promised some interesting duels. In the beginning The Brow had the advantages on his side – Golden State switchte almost everything, so Davis faced many different opponents. The Big Man sunk directly 5 of his first 6 throws. Afterwards, however, the dubs’ aggressive defense was too much. Green did a very good job as the main defender and the Warriors put Davis under pressure with many double and even triple teams. That helped to get Davis more or less under control.