The Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) gets the finger roll shot over the New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado (15) at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Sun Apr 10, 2022 (AP News photo)

Warriors Finish Third In Western Conference With Win Over Pelicans 128-107

By Barbara Mason

Sunday night the Golden State Warriors (53-29) clinched for third place finish in the Western Conference. They beat the New Orleans Pelicans (36-46) 128-107. Both of these teams are playoff bound but the Warriors really need to finish the season on a high note heading into the post-season.

Klay Thompson was back on board for this game. Andrew Wiggins sat this one out and Moses Moody was on the starting roster with Draymond Green, Kevon Looney, Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson.

The Pelicans took an early lead but it would not be long before the Warriors started to crank things up. At the end of the first quarter the Warriors had a slim lead 27-26. The Pelicans had a seven point lead early but the Warriors erased that lead to win the first quarter.

The second quarter was a good one for the Warriors. Golden State finished the first half shooting an impressive 63%. Thompson went off finishing the half with 21 points and was 4 of 9 from downtown.

Jordan Poole had a better game tonight with 12 points after two quarters. Golden State had a 20 point lead at the half 68-48. The Pelicans are one of the poorest three- point shooting teams in the league and so it was no surprise that they shot only three in the first half to the Warriors ten.

The Warriors had shot 72% in the second quarter which was impressive. Every time that Thompson was open he was letting them fly and he was connecting. The team was protecting the ball and limiting those turnovers and had to keep that kind of play going into the second half of the game.

Both offenses began to slow down in the third quarter. It was the Pelicans that began to heat up in the final four minutes of the third quarter cutting a 29 point Warriors lead to an 11 point deficit.

Golden State took their foot off the gas and the Pelicans took it all the way to the bank and cashed in on a 22 to 4 run. The score after three quarters was 89-78 in favor of Golden State. It is a sure bet that the Dallas Mavs had renewed interest in what was going on in this game.

Going into the fourth quarter the Warriors had 16 turnovers and more importantly the Pelicans had scored 20 points off those turnovers.

The Golden State offense turned things around big time in the final quarter thanks to the shooting of Thompson. The Warriors really pulled it together when push came to shove. The victory for the Warriors gives them the third best record in the NBA.

Klay Thompson had his first 40 point game since his comeback shooting 41 points. Jordan Poole was back shooting for 22 points. The entire team had a beautiful defensive effort with 41 rebounds.

We now know that the Warriors will be taking on Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets at Chase Center Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 PM. It still remains to be seen if Stephen Curry will be ready for Game One in playoff series.