Pelicans (10-7), Warriors (8-10)
Late in Monday’s first quarter, Brandon Ingram had outscored Golden State by himself, 13-11. It was that kind of night in a one-sided Western Conference affair in which New Orleans overpowered a severely shorthanded Warriors team that sat out multiple starters. Seventeen days after a similar scenario resulted in the Pelicans having to fight off upset-minded Golden State and win by a nine-point margin, this time the hosts had little difficulty dominating, going up by 24 points in the first quarter. New Orleans finished 4-2 on what will be its longest homestand of the 2022-23 regular season.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
New Orleans scored the first three points of the second half and ballooned its lead to 68-41. By the end of the third quarter, the Pelicans were up 32. Golden State did not play Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins, four-fifths of the defending NBA champions' starting lineup.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Ingram notched his first game of 30-plus points this season – and only needed three quarters to do so. The seventh-year small forward already had 34 points on the stat sheet on breezy 12/19 shooting, while playing 31 of the game’s first 36 minutes. “It’s just so effortless,” Devonte’ Graham said of Ingram’s ability to generate points. “He always plays with no emotion on his face, and you’ll look up (at the scoreboard) and he has 30 (points) and seven (rebounds) and nine (assists). He’s just super gifted.”
Pelicans Highlights: Brandon Ingram racks up 34 points vs. Golden State Warriors 11/21/22
BY THE NUMBERS
22: Previous biggest margin of victory for New Orleans this season, established in the Oct. 19 season opener at Brooklyn.
7-0: Turnover margin in the first quarter, with the Pelicans playing a mistake-free opening 12 minutes. New Orleans also handed out 10 assists, while Golden State only mustered one. At halftime, the Warriors had an unsightly ratio of five assists and 16 turnovers. They finished at 20 to 28.
37.8: Golden State shooting percentage from the field, lowest of the season by a New Orleans opponent and the first time a foe dipped below 40.
REVISITING FANDUEL KEYS TO THE GAME
TUNNEL VISION
There was no messing around with shorthanded Golden State this time, as New Orleans put its foot down right away and made sure there would be no late-game drama whatsoever.
GRAND THEFT ALL TEAM
High marks for New Orleans in this category as well, as the Pelicans forced a boatload of turnovers with aggressive defense (and frankly also benefited greatly from an error-prone Warriors squad).
MATCHUP TO WATCH
In a pair of November wins over Golden State, the New Orleans bench has been superb. This time, Graham paced the second unit with 19 points, featuring 6/11 three-point shooting. Jose Alvarado sank two treys and added 10 points. Overall, 57 Pelicans bench points represented a season high and was compiled on 23/45 shooting from the field. Golden State’s bench managed 37 points.
#PELSPOTWPOLL
He was a DNP to open Week 6 due to a foot contusion, but Trey Murphy’s Week 5 performance earned him Player of the Week status, as voted by fans on Twitter. In very evenly distributed balloting, Murphy netted 32 percent of votes, after shooting 62 percent from three-point range over three games (wins over Memphis and Chicago, loss to Boston). Speaking of evenly distributed, Murphy is the fifth different Pelican to earn the weekly honor. Previous winners were Week 1: Brandon Ingram; Week 2: Naji Marshall; Week 3: Larry Nance Jr.; Week 4, Zion Williamson.