NBA: Playoffs-New Orleans Pelicans at Golden State Warriors

The NBA playoffs are here and the first round matchup with the Pelicans are underway. Although they boast the 8th seed, getting past the Pelicans wont be an easy task. Led by Anthony Davis, the Pelicans also got Jrue Holiday back to orchestrate the offense. Without David Lee the Warriors will have to lean on Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut to limit Davis’ effectiveness

1st Quarter

Anthony Davis made his presence felt from moment he won the tip. The crowd was electric and the Pelicans started the game with a 4-0 run and Davis was on the board. The Pelicans were the first to draw blood, but the Warriors countered with a run of their own. Not to be outdone, Curry started the game with a triple and the Warriors went on a 10-0 run. The Dubs would go on to take a 15-4 lead and the arena was out of control. It wasn’t just Curry, Andrew Bogut and Harrison Barnes hit shots as well. After trading triples, the Warriors were up 21-11 with two minutes remaining. The Dubs went on a 7-2 to finish the quarter and they led the Pelicans 28-13.

2nd Quarter

Second quarter means the second unit is coming into the game. However, they didn’t get off to the start they have been accustomed to. Norris Cole and Alexis Ajinca didn’t waste any time and they combined for an 8-0 run and the lead was down to seven. Klay Thompson responded with a 6-0 run on his own and the lead was back at 13. Davis was doing his best to keep the Pelicans in this game, but the Warriors kept scoring with ease. The Dubs were taking it to the hole and scoring layups at will, which kept the lead at 11 with about four minutes left in the quarter. The Warriors used the last four minutes to go on a 13-2 run and Steph Curry went off. Curry himself scored six points and he took the ball to the hole and got an and-one on Anthony Davis. Oracle was rocking and the Dubs had a 59-41 lead going into the break.

3rd Quarter

Anthony Davis got on the board first in the second half. The Warriors responded with a bucket from Bogut and a triple from Draymond Green. Quincy Pondexter hit a basket to cut the lead to 18, but the scoring stopped after that. With nine minutes left in the quarter, both teams went extremely cold. It took about three minutes for another basket. The teams were trading baskets and the lead was consistently at 18. With 4:20 remaining in the quarter Norris cole hit two free throws to cut the lead to 16. The Warriors responded with a 8-0 run thanks to two Curry triples. With about two minutes left in the game, the Warriors had a 82-57. The Pelicans then turned it up a notch and ended the quarter with a 9-2 run and the Warriors led 84-66

4th Quarter

The Pelicans had some momentum at the end of the third and it carried over to the fourth quarter. New Orleans went on a 7-0 run to start the fourth and the Warriors lead was down to 11. For the first time in the game, Oracle was a little quiet and stunned. The Pelicans had some life, which was amazing considering how well the Warriors had played for most of the game. Just like they’ve been doing all year, the Splash Brothers came to the rescue. Curry and Thompson hit back-to-back triples and the lead was right back up to 17. The Pelicans fought right back and the Brow hit two straight buckets to get the lead down to 13 again. A triple from Eric Gordon made it 10, but the Warriors got a few buckets of their won to stop the bleeding. Davis wanted to carry his team to victory, he was the only one scoring for them. He scored 12 in a row, but the Warriors were scoring too and the time was running out.  The Pelicans got as close as six and some missed free throws from Klay Thompson made it interesting, but the Warriors closed it out.