The Golden State Warriors won game 5 against the New Orleans Pelicans with 113:104 and are in the Conference Finals due to their 4:1 serial success. A strong third quarter paved the way for the Dubs – who made it unnecessarily exciting once again in the end.
Both teams were cold with unchanged starting five’s in the early stages. It wasn’t until both coaches had a break that things got better, with advantages for the dubs. This was mainly due to Klay Thompson, who scored back-to-back threesomes from both corners. The Pels, who played at their usual high pace, stayed up until they lost the ball several times and won the corresponding score: an 8-0 run. So it was after a quarter 32:26.
In the second run it took almost 3 minutes before Jrue Holiday put the ball in the basket for the first time. The Warriors had problems with their trio – a hit rate of 2/11 initially prevented them from extending their lead. This changed when the three stars Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Thompson took turns sinking throws. But this was only an intermediate high: NOLA used a two-minute slump of the hosts to stalk back again with an 11-0 run and even take the lead through an Anthony-Davis-Dunk. Durant had the last word at halftime: 59:56.
The third quarter was then a parallel to that from game 4: The Warriors came hot out of the cabin. Durant in particular was now in the tunnel and made sure that the lead grew to 69:56 and Alvin Gentry 3 timeouts had to be wasted within a very short time. It didn’t get any better afterwards: The Pels lost the ball, Curry sunk a fast break triple from the parking lot on the other side – and then another one from even further away to 81:60. The dubs were unstoppable: A 25:4 run provided a comfortable 95:75 lead after three quarters.
In the final section the guests reared their heads again, shortened to 90:105 with an 8-0 run, Steve Kerr took a time-out, but his team’s dry spell continued. Davis shortened further from the line, Mirotic was on the spot with a tip-in, Holiday and Davis followed, Curry lost the ball – only 7 points! Then Draymond Green had seen enough and hit a difficult fadeaway. The Pels now ran out of time and the Warriors won with 113:104, without it getting completely hot again.
Curry (28 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds) and Green (19 points, 14 rebounds, 9 assists) flirted with triple doubles, Durant (24 points) and Thompson (23) also scored hard. The same was true for Anthony Davis, who scored 34 points (plus 19 rebounds), Holiday played 27.
The Western Conference Finals between the Warriors and Rockets will start next Tuesday at 3am (live on DAZN).
Golden State Warriors v New Orleans Pelicans 113:104, Series 4:1 (BOXSCORE)
Stephen Curry. After a mixed performance in games 3 and 4, the chef had his lightness back. His drives were lively, his passes to the point – but much more important was of course the threesome, which he inimitably sent on the journey from all positions and also sunk. Its rising shape curve is not good news for the Houston Rockets.
Nikola Mirotic. Mostly he was defended by a mobile player like Andre Iguodala, who followed him to the line of three on the one hand, but was also able to defend himself in the post thanks to his strength. So the Spaniard had hardly any actions and remained inconspicuous with 12 points.
The way the Warriors react to double teams against Kevin Durant is both simple and effective. For example, if a Big Man comes up to the free-throw line to double, where KD often has a mismatch, a Warriors Big sneaks up to the edge of the zone on the ball side. Usually it is Green who gets the ball at the top parallel to Durant and attracts the last remaining Helpside defender by a quick penetration to the basket – which usually ends with an alley-oop game on the player previously placed at the edge of the zone. The dubs have been playing this play for years (even before Durant, for example from pick-and-roll traps), but it’s hard to defend.