photo from sfgate.com: Golden State Warriors’ Damion Lee out rebounds New Orleans Pelicans’ Zion Williamson in 2nd quarter during NBA game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, February 23, 2020
By Jerry Feitelberg
San Francisco- The New Orleans Pelicans visited the Warriors Sunday night and had to come back from a 10-point to win 115-101. It was a tale of two halves. The Warriors did everything right in the first half. They won the first two quarters of the game to lead 56-46.
The Warriors’ Damion Lee was on fire. He led the team with 18 points. The Warriors, who were without the services of Marquese Chriss and Draymond Green, played well on defense. The Pelicans shot just 34% from the floor. The only Pelican in double figures in the first half was rookie Zion Williamson. Williamson scored 14 points and was a force in the point.
The 19-year old star, who is six feet six inches tall and weighs 285 pounds, showed his athleticism as he made quick moves to the basket. He was difficult to defend as he likes driving to basket using his left hand. The Pelicans, the fourth-best three-point shooting team in the NBA, made seven threes in 21 attempts.
The Pelicans, who are within three games of the final playoff spot in the NBA Western Conference, came out with a vengeance to start the second half. They went on a 13-2 run to start the third quarter. The Pelicans made the first ten shots they tried in the period.
Five of them were three-pointers. The Warriors, on the other hand, missed all nine of their three-point shots. The Warriors didn’t quit. They played hard and tied the game 77-77 to finish the third quarter.
Things did not go well in the fourth quarter. The Pelicans started the road to victory with an 11-2 run. The Pelican’s Jrue Holiday got hot and began to make threes. The Warriors Juan Toscano-Anderson, who is from East Oakland, made a couple of threes to keep the Warriors within range of the leas.
Zion Williamson continued to wear down the Warriors defense. The Pelicans’ Nicolo Melli, J J Redick, and Holiday kept scoring from downtown. The Pelicans won the fourth quarter 38-14.
Game Notes and Stats- With the loss, the Warriors record drops to 12-44. The Pelicans improved to 25-32. The Pelicans started the season slowly. They had a lot of players unavailable due to injury. Williamson has played in about 10 games so far.
Alvin Gentry has his team playing well right now, and they are making a charge to get into the playoffs. Williamson, who was the first choice in the draft, has shown that he is for real. He will be a force down the stretch for New Orleans.
There were bright spots for the Warriors Sunday night. The team, down to just nine players, meshed well. The new guys, including Andrew Wiggins, played hard on both ends of the court. Wiggins had a tough night shooting.
He just couldn’t get anything going. He finished the night with eight points, ten rebounds, and four assists. The Warriors, nevertheless, had five players in double figures. Damion Lee knocked down 22 points, four rebounds, four assists, and four-threes.
Jordan Poole continued to play well. Poole had 19 points, four boards, and five assists. Juan Toscano-Anderson had a career-high 16 points. He also pulled down eight rebounds, had three assists, and made three threes. Backup Ky Bowman impressed with 15 points, six rebounds, and seven assists. Rookie Eric Paschall had 13 points and five rebounds.
Williamson Led the Pelicans with 28. Holiday had 23 points and 15 assists, Melli 20, and Brandon Ingram 17.
The Warriors continue the homestand with visits from the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers. The Kings will be here Tuesday and the Lakers on Thursday. Both games will start at 7:30 pm.
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