by Jerry Feitelberg

New Orleans- The Golden State Warriors and New Orleans Pelicans played one of the best games of the season Tuesday night at the Smoothie King Arena in the Crescent City. Both teams played well on offense as well as on defense, but the Dubs were just a little bit better as they outlasted the Pelicans 113-109.

The first half belonged to the Pelicans. The Pelicans, coached by former Dubs assistant coach Alvin Gentry, played just like the Warriors. The Pelicans had great ball movement as they recorded 17 assists in the first half. They made ten 3-point shots and had six steals on defense. The Pelicans started the first quarter well. They had an early 13-5 lead as they went on an 8-0 run. The Dubs came back and led 25-22 after Steph Curry made his second 3-point shot of the quarter. New Orleans regained the lead and finished the quarter with a six-point lead 35-29. The Pelicans kept the lead for the rest of the half. They never got too far ahead, but the Dubs just couldn’t catch them, and they increased the lead to seven 65-58. Anthony Davis led the Pelican scorers with 18. Langston Galloway and Tim Frazier, both coming off the bench, scored 12 and 7 respectively. Steph Curry with 15, Klay Thompson 13, and Kevin Durant ten led the Dubs. The Pelican shot 52.3% from the floor and made ten 3-point shots. The Warriors shot a respectable 48.9% and made eight 3-pointers.

The Warriors, as they have done so many times in the past, outscored the opposition. The Dubs scored 37 and held the Pelicans to 29 to take a one-point lead at the end of three-quarters. The Dubs went on a 15-1 run to lead 74-68, but the Pelicans did not panic and kept the pressure on the Warriors. Steph made two 3-point shots, and Draymond Green added one. Kevin Durant made a sensational block late in the quarter to thwart an easy Pelican layup for a bucket. The Warriors were cold to start the final quarter of the game. The Pelicans scored the first six points to lead 100-95. The Dubs scored the next seven points to regain the advantage 102-100. The lead changed hands a couple of times until the teams tied the game at 107. The Dubs took the lead on a Steph Curry shot from the corner 109-108. On the next play, Draymond made a huge steal and Steph made another bucket to increase the lead to 111-108. Green made a big rebound, but the Dubs couldn’t score and then fouled Jrue Holiday with just 14.9 seconds left in the game fouled   Holiday made the first free throw. Holiday intentionally missed the second freebie, and the rebound went to the Pelicans. However, Draymond Green made another huge steal as he knocked the ball out of Anthony Davis’hands as Davis was attempting to move in for a two-point shot. Green sealed the win as he was fouled with about three seconds left to play. Green made the two free throws to seal the win. 113-109.

Game Notes- The Warriors played superb defense in the fourth quarter. They outscored the Pelicans 18-15 but did not allow the Pelicans to score a field goal in the last 4 minutes and forty-four seconds of the fourth quarter. The Defense was led by Draymond Green. Green was, without question, the player of the game. He had a triple-double with twelve points, ten assists, twelve rebounds, two blocks and at least two huge steals in the fourth quarter. Andre Iguodala, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Steph Curry all were excellent on defense, too. Steph led the Dubs with 30points to go with seven assists and four boards. Durant added twenty-seven, nd he had 3 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Klay Thompson finished with seventeen points, 3 assists,s rebounds, and two blocked shots. The Pelicans led by Anthony Davis, Langston Galloway, Tim Frazier, Solomon Hill, and Jrue Holiday all scored in double figures. Davis was a force with 28 points,3 assists,8 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.The Warriors improve to 22-4 and the Pelicans fall to 8-18.

After the game, Steve Kerr said this about Draymond Green’s play on defense:”he loves to be in that position.He relishes it.” Kerr also said this about the team’s play in the fourth quarter:”the defense was great the last five minutes, the offense not.” He praised Kevin Durant’s work on defense this way:”KD is so capable defensively.”

The Warriors finished the five-game road trip with a record of 4-1. The Dubs played six games in the last nine days and won five out of six. They played two back-to-back series on the trip. The Dubs return home to face the New York Knicks Thursday night at Oracle Arena at 7:30 pm.