At the end of a grueling road trip, the Warriors and Pelicans delivered one of the most entertaining games of the year. The Pelicans were brilliant but not strong enough to overcome a powerful showing from the Warriors triumvirate (“quad”umvirate?) of stars. After a bumpy start, the Warriors delivered their best efforts right when they were needed the most.
The Warriors were down six at the end of the first quarter, seven at the end of the second, but turned it on for a typical 3rd quarter with a brutal 37-29 shellacking to make it 95-94 going into the fourth quarter. Yet the real coup d'etat came in the fourth, where the Warriors squeezed the life out of New Orleans by holding them to 15 points (including a complete shut out with no points in the final five minutes).
Warriors (22-4), Pelicans (8-18)
A packed arena. Several heated exchanges between opposing players. Forty-eight minutes of intense basketball. A dramatic finish.
Tuesday’s Western Conference matchup had just about everything, making for an extremely entertaining game at Smoothie King Center. Ultimately, Golden State hung on for a thrilling win. Leading by two points in the final seconds, Warriors elite defender Draymond Green knocked the ball away from Anthony Davis, a play that caused Davis to immediately look for a foul, to no avail. After a well-played game filled with back-and-forth and runs by both teams, the Pelicans didn’t have quite enough to overtake the Warriors and finish off an upset bid.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Green knocked down a pair of free throws with 1.4 seconds remaining, doubling Golden State’s lead from 111-109 to the final margin. New Orleans inbounded after the made foul shots but only was able to fire a desperation heave just before the buzzer.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
In order to have a chance to knock off the juggernaut visitors, New Orleans figured to need a quality game from its All-Star and got it, along with big contributions from others, and did. Davis totaled 28 points and was exceptionally efficient (shooting 10/14 from the field), while grabbing eight rebounds and blocking five shots. Davis rested during a long stretch early in the fourth quarter, but the Pelicans were able to play the Warriors evenly and take a small lead. The one blemish for Davis was six turnovers, part of 17 the Pelicans committed.
PELICANS UNSUNG CONTRIBUTOR
Reserve guard Langston Galloway is in the midst of a tremendous three-point shooting stretch. The third-year NBA veteran almost never hesitates when he’s open beyond the arc, and the results have been excellent. Galloway connected five times on three-pointers in 12 attempts, en route to a 20-point evening. A two-year member of New York prior to coming to New Orleans, Galloway indicated after the game that he hasn’t had this much of a green light to shoot since he was in college at St. Joseph’s.
QUOTES TO NOTE
“He didn’t make the play at the end of the game. Big deal – we’ll throw it to him tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next day. Because he’s our best player, and he’s either going to take a good shot, or make the right play to the right person. I’m fine with it. I don’t have any problem with it whatsoever.” – Alvin Gentry on the ball going to Davis on the final possession that was denied by Green’s steal
“They made some big shots. We missed some shots we’d been making all game. That’s really it. We missed a couple free throws. We put ourselves in position to win.” – Davis on what decided the final stretch of the fourth quarter
“We played well. We played together. We moved the ball. We had a little bit of miscommunication on defense, but overall our defense was good. We’ve got to take some of the stuff we did in this game and take it into the next game.” – Davis on trying to use pieces of Tuesday’s performance going forward to Thursday at home vs. Indiana
BY THE NUMBERS
14/35: New Orleans three-point shooting. Golden State shot almost exactly the same at 14/34.
18-15: Golden State scoring edge in the fourth quarter. After three high-scoring quarters, the final period more closely resembled a hard-fought playoff game, with baskets hard to come by and every possession carrying significant weight.
27: Golden State points off turnovers. NOLA committed 17, meaning the Warriors had a very good conversion rate. The Pelicans scored 12 points off 12 Warriors miscues..
NO SHOT IS SAFE! Hide your kids, hide your wife https://t.co/LTx9mUUMkh— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) December 14, 2016
Up next?
The Warriors are have tomorrow off and are headed back home for a three game home stand. Our next game is Thursday, when we host the Knicks. But looking beyond that, it’s an exciting time here in Warriors land: the Cavs are coming over for Christmas, and GSoM night is only a few weeks away.
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