Warriors lead series 1-0
OAKLAND – After nearly an entire month without a defeat, Saturday proved to be a harsh return to reality for New Orleans. Facing the defending NBA champion Warriors, Golden State took advantage of every mistake by the visitors – and there were plenty – en route to a runaway win in the series opener. The Pelicans stayed close for only a period, before the Warriors broke it open by virtue of a 41-21 second-stanza edge.
In the week leading up to the series opener, New Orleans frequently mentioned the importance of reducing turnovers, and the Pelicans technically accomplished that by only committing seven through three quarters. But Golden State capitalized on all miscues, finishing with 20 points off of a dozen NOLA turnovers. New Orleans lost for the first time since an April 1 home loss to Oklahoma City.
The clubs will return to Oracle Arena on Tuesday for Game 2 of the series.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
New Orleans couldn’t make a dent in Golden State’s significant halftime lead, as the Warriors kept pushing the advantage into the high 20s late in the third quarter. The Pelicans subbed in deep reserve Cheick Diallo with two-plus minutes remaining in the period, but Golden State went up 100-70 on a straightaway Kevin Durant three-pointer, the hosts’ biggest lead. He added another trey on an ensuing possession, giving him 26 points in 32 minutes.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
No one in a navy and gold uniform will look back fondly at Saturday’s opener, but E’Twaun Moore (15 points) gave New Orleans an early spark with accurate shooting. Moore’s efficient game featured 7/11 shooting from the floor, but as was the case for several Pelicans, it was marred and short-circuited at times by foul trouble. Moore had four fouls by the early portion of the third quarter, as did fellow guards/wings Jrue Holiday and Ian Clark.
PELICANS UNSUNG CONTRIBUTOR
Darius Miller produced an NBA postseason footnote by sinking the longest three-point shot in a playoff game over the last 20 years, a bomb from the opposite foul line at the second-quarter buzzer. Miller finished with nine points and six assists, the latter the most for him in any NBA game. Meanwhile, Jordan Crawford dropped in 12 points in eight minutes of fourth-quarter action, going 6/7 from the field.
QUOTES TO NOTE
“Well, that didn’t go as planned. I guess I’ll answer questions.” – Alvin Gentry leading off his postgame press conference Saturday
“At the end of the day, it’s one game, and we’ve been playing great basketball, and I’m not so sure if the week off helped us. I thought we lost a little bit of our rhythm. We missed some shots that we've been making the last two weeks and then they came at us hard and we didn’t respond to it really well. But those are all things that can be corrected.” – Gentry trying to put Game 1 in perspective
“They’re the champs. Defensively we need to do a better job collectively. That’s what we were talking about on the bench when they went on their run. Defensively I think we let them get out of hand. Klay (Thompson) got a lot of wide-open threes. They got a lot of wide-open, slip-to-the-basket dunks. I think when we go back we’ll see a lot of that (when watching tape of Game 1).” – Holiday on part of what went wrong for New Orleans in the second quarter
“We're going to be more locked in defensively, especially with (Stephen Curry) probably coming back. But for us, it's about pride. What they did in the second quarter was an embarrassment to us. We're not that type of team.” – Anthony Davis (21 points, 10 rebounds) on his team’s defense in Game 1, then the likely return of the two-time MVP for Game 2
BY THE NUMBERS
33: Golden State assists, led by 11 from Draymond Green, who authored a triple-double. The Warriors had the Pelicans scrambling defensively, finding cutters for easy layups and dunks frequently. New Orleans players cited miscommunication for some of the mistakes in assignments.
57-42: Warriors rebounding edge. Green again topped the category, pulling down 15 boards in a surprising start at center, instead of his usual power forward slot.
68-40: Golden State scoring margin in the middle quarters. Overall, seven different Warriors contributed at least eight points.