The Warriors earned their first win of the season after defeating the Pelicans 122-114 in New Orleans on Friday night.
The Warriors earned their first win of the season after defeating the Pelicans 122-114 in New Orleans on Friday night. Kevin Durant recorded his second double-double in as many games with Golden State with 30 points and 17 rebounds to go along with six assists. Klay Thompson added 28 points, while Stephen Curry contributed 23 points and seven assists. With the victory, the Warriors even their record at 1-1 on the season.
GAME LEADERS
With each game that passes, the Warriors will inch closer and closer to the final product that most expect of them to become, and they took one step in the right direction with their performance in New Orleans. Golden State possessed the lead for the vast majority of the contest, using a three-headed monster in the form of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson to hold off the Pelicans and another tremendous individual effort from Anthony Davis. Davis scored the first two shots of the night for the Pelicans to give New Orleans a 4-2 advantage less than a minute into the game, but Curry drained a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, and the Warriors would lead for all but 38 seconds of the remainder of the game. Durant notched 11 points in the opening frame, while Zaza Pachulia added eight points and six assists as the first quarter came to a close with Golden State leading 32-22.
The Pelicans would trim a single point off that deficit in the second quarter, thanks in large part to Davis. After scoring 51 points in New Orleans’ season-opener, Davis would score 21 points in the first half, including 10 of the Pelicans’ 28 second quarter points. Durant wouldn’t be far behind, accruing 18 points and 10 rebounds in the first half to become the first Warriors’ player with a double-double in each of his first two games with Golden State since David Lee in 2010.
New Orleans would continue to ride Davis’ scoring touch in the second half to get back in the game and dig themselves out of a double-digit deficit. After E’Twaun Moore missed a jumper with 10:23 remaining in the third quarter and the Warriors leading 62-52, New Orleans would make each of their next ten shot attempts, the last of which gave the Pelicans their first lead since it was 4-2 at 74-73 with 4:35 left in the frame. It would be a short-lived lead however, as Curry would respond with the next eight points to ignite a 19-7 Warriors’ run to close out the quarter.
Golden State would stretch their lead to as large as 16 points on three separate occasions in the fourth quarter, but New Orleans would not go away quietly. The Warriors led by 11 with 1:47 left to play, but five-straight points from Davis would pull the Pelicans within 114-108 with 1:12 remaining in the game. With the two sides separated by the same margin 30 seconds later, Davis rose up for a three-point attempt, but it was swatted by Durant, who gathered possession and raced down the court for a lay-in that would put an end to New Orleans’ hopes. Davis would pull the Pelicans within six points once more with 19 seconds left, but Klay Thompson drained both free throws on the ensuing possession to ice away the Warriors’ 122-114 victory.
With the win, Golden State improves to 1-1 on the season. Next up, they’ll travel to Phoenix to take on the Suns on Sunday afternoon.