By Barbara Mason

Wednesday night the Golden State Warriors got slammed by the New Orleans Pelicans 141-105. The Pelicans took an early lead outscoring the Warriors 46-27. Golden State won the second quarter but New Orleans came back in the third and fourth quarters to beat the Warriors. Offensively and defensively it was all Pelicans all night. Once again the crowd booed their team out of sheer frustration.

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It has been tough going for the Golden State Warriors (17-20) lately falling to the Toronto Raptors last Sunday night losing that game 133-118. Tonight the Warriors took on the New Orleans Pelicans (23-15), a very tough assignment. The Pelicans currently sit in sixth place in the Western Conference. The Warriors would need to pull out all the stops as they face the likes of Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum and Jonas Valanciunas.

The Pelicans got on top of the Warriors from the get-go leading after one quarter 46-27. This was the second time that Golden State fell behind early and had to play catch up. The Warriors are going through a tough stretch right now lacking confidence and belief in the system.

Golden State did win the second quarter by six points 33-27 but were trailing by nineteen points after the first quarter. They had some ground to make up but we have seen them come from behind in the past. They were down 73-60 at the half, only down by thirteen points and very much in the game.

The third and fourth quarters were both won by the Pelicans which sealed the win. New Orleans won the third 32-23 and the final quarter 36-22 handing the Warriors a second loss in a row 141-105. It was a heart-wrenching loss for the team. Every time they made a run, the Pelicans answered. They outplayed the Warriors offensively and defensively.

The New Orleans starting lineup all had double digits with Jonas Valanciunas the high with 21 points. The Pelicans got some great work from their bench matching the Golden State bench.

It was a tough loss for the Warriors and leaves the team searching for answers. This was a terrible loss for Head Coach Steve Kerr, among one of the worst in his coaching tenure. Both Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were lackluster at best. Curry with 15 points and Thompson with 13. The Warriors bench outscored the starting lineup. It is tough to fault the fans for reacting the way they did, booing and exiting the building before game’s end. This team is in trouble and has just experienced one of the lowest points in their season.

The team is looking to the return of Draymond Green and this cannot come soon enough for the Warriors. This could be the shot in the arm that the Warriors desperately need to get back on track. They are missing Chris Paul and the fact that this game was televised on national TV was downright embarrassing. This is about as awful as it can get although the Warriors are looking at yet another challenging matchup Friday night as they take on the Chicago Bulls on the road. Tipoff for that game Friday will be 5:00 PM.