AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
By Robert Steward
OAKLAND–
And now the REAL season begins in the NBA. As anyone who watches the NBA regular season games knows, there is a distinct difference in the style of play, most notably defense, when the playoffs begin. The intensity on defensive play stands out. Shots are contested more frequently and physical play by a defender is ratcheted up a notch. As a team goes deeper into the playoffs, the defense only gets more intense. Anyone wanting to see the difference need only watch a highlight reel of San Antonio Spurs playoff games from the last 15 years.
The Golden State Warriors, fresh off an NBA-best 67-15 record, including an NBA-best 39-2 home record, and number 1 seed in the Western Conference, played host to the New Orleans Pelicans, the number 8 seed, at Oracle Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors certainly have high hopes of going much further in this year’s playoffs than last year’s first round exit in 7 games to the LA Clippers and they started this year’s playoff run on a winning note, defeating the Pelicans, 106-99.
As the game unfolded the Pelicans hit their first two shots of the game but proceeded to miss their next four shots as the Warriors scored 10 in a row to go up, 10-4, following a 3-pointer by Stephen Curry. Golden State continued to move the ball well and following a dunk by Andre Iguodala on a nice assist from Andrew Bogut led 18-8 with 3:57 left in the quarter. After making their first 2 shots the Pelicans proceeded to miss 17 of their next 19 as the Warriors opened up a 15-point lead, closing out the quarter leading 28-13. Golden State shot 50% from the floor to New Orleans’ 24%. The Warriors were more aggressive on the boards, outrebounding the Pelicans, 16-9. Stephen Curry had 11 points in the quarter, while Harrison Barnes hit a couple 3’s and added 8 points himself. Klay Thompson was surprisingly quiet, going scoreless and only taking 2 shots.
New Orleans once again started hot as the second quarter began, hitting their first 4 shots during an 8-0 run before Thompson woke up, scoring Golden State’s next 6 points. New Orleans kept up their hot shooting and cut the Warrior lead to 44-39 following a Quincy Pondexter trey with 4:16 left. Surprisingly, the Pelicans did not turn up the defensive intensity in the quarter as Golden State was getting plenty of uncontested layups. The Warriors went on a 15-2 run to close out the half with a 59-41 lead, highlighted by Stefan Curry’s play at the 1:35 mark. Following a turnover by the Pelicans, Curry pushed it upcourt, drove in with his left hand for a layup against two defenders, got fouled and laid the ball high off the glass for the bucket. His subsequent free throw completed the three-point play.
Golden State dominated the first half in the paint with 36 points, including 14 of 24 on dunks and layups. The Warriors were shooting 56% from the floor at the break, while New Orleans had improved to 41%. The Pelicans, however, cooled off after hitting their first 10 of 12 from the floor in the quarter, missing 5 of their last 6 shots. Despite only hitting 1 of 6 from 3-point range in the first half, Curry lead the Warriors with 19. Thompson scored all 11 of his points in the second quarter, while Barnes and Bogut also were in double figures with 10 points apiece. Antonio Davis led New Orleans with 11 points, the lone scorer in double figures for the Pelicans.
At the start of the second half New Orleans began to turn it up a notch on the defensive end but struggled to make shots. Tyreke Evans, who had left the game in the 2nd quarter following a knee contusion, did not return for the rest of the game. Also, Davis picked up his 4th foul for the Pelicans at the 7:01 mark and went to the bench. Golden State took advantage and continued to be unselfish with the ball, making extra passes to the open shooter. Iguodala was left wide open on the baseline and connected on an uncontested 3-pointer following passes from Curry to Thompson to Iguodala to open up a 69-46 lead with 6:01 left in the quarter. The Warriors eventually extended the lead to 25 and led by that margin, 82-57, with 2:15 left. At this point in the game the Warriors were clearly wanting it more, forcing turnovers and getting strong second efforts following missed shots. It was also at this point when the Pelicans finally woke up and realized they were in the playoffs. They closed out the quarter on a 7-0 run, finished by Pondexter’s long 3-pointer just inside halfcourt with .01 second left. Golden State led, 84-66, as the third quarter ended.
The Pelicans picked up where they left off in the 3rd, starting the 4th quarter on a 7-0 run, extending their overall run of 14 consecutive points to trim the Warriors lead to 84-73, forcing Golden State to call a timeout with 10:20 left. Curry stopped the bleeding with an uncontested trey and it was followed by Thompson’s trey to push the lead back to 17, at 90-73, with 8:11 left. It was clear, however, that the Warriors were not nearly aggressive in the 4th as they had been for the previous three quarters. They were also content to launch 3-pointers and miss them, at one point missing 4 in a row as the Pelicans continued to chip away at the Golden State lead. Eric Gordon hit a three for New Orleans to cut the lead to 93-83 with 3:26 left. At this point, the Warriors had only made 2 of 13 from the floor in the 4th. Davis played very strong in the 4th for the Pelicans, at one point scoring 16 of the team’s 19 points in one stretch, continuously hitting baseline jumpers and free throws when fouled. He also threw down a thunderous dunk on an alley-oop from Norris Cole with 2:59 left. Golden State, meanwhile, made things way too interesting during crunch time, missing 6 of 10 free throws late in the game, including 3 of 4 by Thompson, an 88% free throw shooter on the season, and one by Curry, himself hitting 91% from the line during the regular season. The Pelicans whittled the lead down to 4, at 103-99, with 9 seconds left following 2 free throws from Davis, before the Warriors woke up and hit 3 of their last 4 from the line to seal it.
Golden State was led by Curry, who finished with 34 points, but only 4 of 13 from long-distance and 4 of 7 from the line. Thompson scored 21 but also missed 3 from the line and was only 6 of 17 from the floor. Draymond Green had a solid game for the Warriors, scoring 15, while pulling down 12 rebounds and dishing out 7 assists. Andrew Bogut also played strong, having a double-double of his own with 12 points and 14 boards. Barnes chipped in with 12 points of his own as all Warrior starters were in double figures. Golden State finished at 46% shooting from the floor, including 11 of 29 from 3-point range, but shot poorly from the line, hitting only 21 of 34. New Orleans was led by Davis, who scored 20 of his game-high 35 points in the 4th. Pondexter finished with 20 and Gordon added 16. The Pelicans shot 42% from the floor, hitting 9 of 20 beyond the arc. They were also 20 of 25 from the line.
Both teams go at it again in game 2 at Oracle Arena on Monday at 7:30pm.
