Tag: New Orleans Pelicans

Warriors come back to win, send Pelicans down 147-140

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

Wow, what a game! The Golden State Warriors, having played last night in Denver and returned home to the Bay Area in the wee hours of the morning, defeated the New Orleans Pelicans Wednesday night at Oracle Arena by a score of 147-140. It was not easy as the Pelicans played one of their best games of the year. They scored 140 points and had five players in double-digits. They led for most of the game, but the Warriors came to life late in the third quarter and took the lead 110 -109 when Andre Iguodala hit a shot at the buzzer and made a free throw as he was fouled on the play.

The Pelicans, not known for three-point shooting, rained down ten 3-pointers in the first half. They won the first quarter 39-31. With the score 21-14 in favor of Golden State, the Pelicans went on a 17-5 run to lead 31-26. They finished the quarter, leading 39-31. The Pelicans increased the lead to sixteen, 61-45. The Warriors then went on a 17-4 run to close the gap to 65-62. The Pelicans responded and went ahead by eight 70-62. The first half ended with New Orleans in the lead 71-66.

Nikola Mirotic led the Pelicans with 21 points coming off the bench. He made four three and the Warriors had no answer for him. Anthony Davis had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Jrue Holiday had 11. The Warriors’ Big Three of Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Klay Thompson finished with 15, 12, and 17, respectively. Shaun Livingston, coming off the bench scored 11. The Pelicans made ten 3s, and the Warriors made 11. Steph Curry committed his two fouls early in the first quarter and missed over sat on the bench for most of the period. He committed his third foul early in the second quarter and sat until late in the period.

The Pelicans looked as if they were in command, and were going to win the game as the Warriors could not get the offense going. The Warriors came to life late in the period when they went on a 25-8 run in the last 3 minutes and 43 seconds left in the period. They had not led since early in the first quarter. The Warriors, behind Curry’s 23 points in the quarter and Iguodala’s steal and bucket, as the buzzer sounded to end the third quarter with the Warriors in the lead 110-109. The Warriors outscored the Pelicans 44-38 in the quarter.

The Warriors continued to play well on offense, and their defense was able to stop the Pelican attack. The Pelicans went up by three 118-115, but Iguodala hit a 3 to tie the game. The teams tied again at 120. New Orleans went ahead 124-123. It would be their last lead of the night. Shaun Livingston made a bucket, and that was followed by Kevon Looney’s basket to make it 127-124. Draymond Green made a three to give the Dubs the lead 132-126. Looney and Curry mad buckets to put the Warriors ahead by eight, 134-126, with 2:28 left to play. Mirotoc connected on his sixth 3 of the night, but Green countered with his fourth 3-pointer. The Warriors’ defense made the stops, and the Warriors finished with their sixth win a row by a score of 147-140.

Game Notes and Stats: After the big win in Denver Tuesday night, it looked like the Warriors were not in sync early in the game. The Pelicans finished the night with five players in double figures, and they made 19 three-point shots and scored 140 points and still lost. The Warriors found their mojo late in the third quarter and showed the Pelicans why they are the reigning NBA champions. Steph Curry had another out of this world performance as he finished with 41 points and made nine threes in 17 attempts. Kevin Durant had a double-double with 30 points and 15 rebounds, Durant made five threes Wednesday night. Klay Thompson had 19, and he made four threes. Draymond Green probably had his best game of the year. Green, who had not been scoring much this season, tallied 17 points. He had six rebounds and 14 assists for another double-double. He had to guard the Pelicans’ two big men Anthony Davis and Nikola Mirotic. Mirotic scored 21 in the first half but was held to just eight in the second. Kevon Looney also played well. Looney had seven significant points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala each had 13 points for Golden State.

Golden State made 24 three-point shots to tie a franchise record. The Pelicans made 19 threes. Each time shot 48% from the floor. The Warriors outrebounded the Pelicans 57-49, and Kevon Looney was a force on the offensive boards as the Warriors outrebounded the Pelicans 10-7 in that department.

The Warriors improve to 31-14 while the Pelicans drop to 21-24.

Up Next: The Warriors embark on a five-game road trip starting Friday night against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center in LA. The game will feature the debut of DeMarcus Cousins as a Warrior. Game time is at 7:30 pm.

NBA podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Mavs score big on Hornets; Richardson leads the way in Heat’s win; Beal gets 24 in Wizards’ win; plus more

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Photo credit: @RamonaSteve7

On the NBA podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 The Dallas Mavericks (18-19) topped the Charlotte Hornets (18-19) 122-84. For Dallas, Luke Doncic and Dennis Smith Jr each had 28 points to lead the Mavs.

#2 The Miami Heat (18-18) downed the Cleveland Cavaliers (8-30) 117-92. The Heat’s Josh Richardson led with 24 points.

#3 The Washington Wizards (15-23) get a 114-98 win over the visiting Atlanta Hawks (11-26) Alex Len led the Hawks with 24 points and Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 24 points.

#4 The Brooklyn Nets (18-21) got a five-point win past the New Orleans Pelicans (17-22) 126-121. For the Nets, D’Angelo Russell led the Pelicans with 22 points.

#5 The Boston Celtics (22-15) got a big win past the Minnesota Timberwolves (17-21) at the Garden. The Celtics’ Gordon Hayward led all scorers with 35 points.

Join Jerry for the NBA podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cardiac Kings do it again with a fourth quarter, come-from-behind 122-117 win over the Pelicans

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
pels giles
Harry Giles III tips the ball back into the basket Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings won their second consecutive come from behind in the fourth quarter game on Sunday night as they defeated Anthony “the Brow” Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans 122-117. The Kings trailed the Pelicans by as many as 19 points in the contest, and frankly, it did not appear that the home team would have enough momentum to overcome the New Orleans lead.

The Kings had trouble putting the ball in the basket right from the beginning of the game. At one point in the first quarter, Sacramento was shooting just 25-percent from the field while New Orleans was hitting more than 50-percent of their shots. The Pels dominated the paint and were converting high percentage shots. The Kings were not taking bad shots, but their shots were not dropping.

The Kings shooting improved in the second quarter (48.1-percent) and they were able to match the Pelicans point for point. Each team scored 33 points in the second period. Buddy Hield led the scoring attack for SAC with nine points. New Orleans was paced by Jrue Holiday who hit 7-of-9 shots for 14 points.

At the half, New Orleans held a 69-58 lead over Sacramento.

The third quarter was dominated by a former Wildcat and Sooner. New Orleans center Anthony Davis scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds for his team as they scored 27 points in the period. Buddy Hield led the charge for Sacramento scoring 11 points in the third. He went for 4-for-4 shooting (3-for-3 from 3-point land). The Kings won the quarter 28-27. At the end of 36 minutes, the Pelicans held a 96-86 lead over the Kings.

pels jump ball
Koufos and Miller jump ball in 4th quarter Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

The Kings went on a comeback run that saw them outscore the Pelicans 36-21 in the final quarter. Sacramento was paced by De’Aaron Fox and Bogdan Bogdanovic who each scored nine points in the period. Buddy Hield stayed hot as he recorded eight points. Willie Cauley-Stein hauled in nine of his career-high 17 rebounds in the final 12-minutes. The Kings went on a mission in the final quarter and they were not going to be denied. When the final buzzer sounded, the Kings (18-15) had defeated the Pelicans (15-19) 122-117.

Willie Cauley-Stein had a monster game

The Kings center played just over 35-minutes in his team’s victory. He scored 22 points and made it a double-double as he pulled down a career-high 17 (four offensive) rebounds. WCS shot 10-for-19 from the floor and went 2-for-4 from behind the 3-point line. The big man also made three steals in the game.

 

 

 

 

De’Aaron Fox posted a double-double

The Kings versatile point guard made it a double-double game in the win over the Pelicans on Sunday night. He scored 19 points and dished out 11 assists. Fox also added two steals. He did all of this while still nursing a sore shoulder injured in the game on Friday with Memphis.

“Buddy Buckets” was amazing again

Buddy Hield was the leading scorer in the game on Sunday. He put 28 points in the book in 36-plus minutes of playing time. Hield shot 11-for-16 from the field and hit 6-of-11 from behind the 3-point arc. He also pulled in six rebounds.

pels buddy
Buddy Hield lets it fly from 3-point land Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

Bogi comes up Big

Bogdan Bogdanovic is finding his legs and really getting into the flow of the game. On Sunday afternoon, he scored 24 points shooting 7-for-16 from the floor. Bogdanovic hit 2-of-5 from long range and converted 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. He also dished out seven dimes.

pels bogi
Bogi sinks one from the free throw line Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

Coach Joerger summarizes the game

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pelicans numbers

Pels logo

  • Leading scorer Jrue Holiday with 27 points, seven rebounds, and six assists
  • Anthony Davis scored 26 points pulled down 17 rebounds (double-double) plus four assists and four blocked shots
  • Julius Randle put up 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds

The Pelicans were extremely frustrated after the loss to the Kings. Giving up a 19 point lead and losing by five points will make you walk the aisle of the plane all the way back to the “Big Easy” out of frustration.

Up next

The Kings next game will be on Wednesday, December 26 at the Staples Center versus the Los Angeles Clippers. The Kings lost to the Clippers at the Golden 1 Center on November 29, 133-121.

The Pelicans next game will be in Dallas on December 26. New Orleans beat the Mavs on December 5th, 132-105.

Warriors win sixth in a row after 131-121 defeat of the Pelicans

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors, who returned home to Oracle Arena after a successful 3-game road trip, defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 131-121 on Wednesday night. It wasn’t easy as the Pelicans entered the game as the highest scoring team in the NBA. The Warriors, who were backed by Steph Curry’s 37 points, failed to crumble. They moved the ball well and recorded 40 assists in a winning effort. Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green also played well. Green was a force on defense, and the Warriors were able to hold the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis to just 17 points.

Both teams played an uptempo game in the first quarter. The lead changed hands several times, but the Warriors were able to end the period with a 6-point lead 43-37.  In the second period, the Pelicans trailed 49-40 when they went on an 11-0 run to regain the lead. The Warriors woke up and went on a 14-6 run to lead 64-56. The Pelicans regrouped and scored the next 7 points to trail by one 64-63. Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green scored the next 3 buckets, and the Warriors finished the first half leading 70-63.

The Warriors, who usually own the third quarter, outscored the Pelicans 37-29 to take a 15-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. Curry led the charge, and he had help from the Warriors’ bench players Kevon Looney, Jonas Jerebko, and Alfonzo McKinnie. The quarter ended with Golden State leading 107-92.

The Pelicans refused to quit. Davis led the Pelicans’ charge. Curry, Durant, Thompson, and Green were determined to not let the Pelicans overtake them. They met every challenge and did not wilt down the stretch. The Pelicans did win the quarter as they outscored the Warriors 29-24 but the 15-point deficit was too much to overcome. The Warriors won 131-121.

Game Notes: Steph Curry led the Warriors with 37 points. It was his sixth 30-point game of the season. Durant had 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists. Draymond Green almost had a triple-double as he recorded 16 points, 15 rebounds, and 8 assists. Green was clearly the player of the game for the Warriors. Klay Thompson finished with 18. The Warriors bench tallied 30 points. Jonas Jerebko had 10, Andre Iguodala 9, and Jordan Bell, Alfonzo McKinnie, and Kevon Looney added 11. Shaun Livingston did not play as he is recovering from a foot injury.

The Pelicans were led by Jrue Holiday’s 28 points. Nikola Mirotic knocked down 26 and snagged 12 rebounds in a losing effort. E’Twaun Moore pitched in with 21.

The Warriors are now 8-1 for the season, and the Pelicans drop to 4-3.

The Warriors held a moment of silence for Giants legend Willie McCovey, who passed away at the age of 80 on Wednesday.

Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr had this to say about Big Mac: “For me, Willie McCovey represents a major figure from my childhood…Hearing Vin Scully talking about Willie McCovey and the Dodger/Giant rivalry. I’m well aware of how beloved Willie was here in the Bay Area and by the Giants family. We extend our condolences to Willie’s family and to the Giants family. Everybody here with the Warriors is thinking about them tonight.”

Up Next: The Warriors resume play Friday night at Oracle Arena when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves at 7:30 pm PT.

Jimmy Butler is expected to play. Butler has requested for the Timberwolves to trade him, but the team has not finalized a deal yet.

Pelicans land hard on the Kings in a 149-129 win in “the Big Easy”

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Bagley vs Pels
Bagley slams it home Photo @SacramentoKings

By Charlie O. Mallonee

By the end of the evening in New Orleans, the Sacramento Kings would rather have been in Yuba City because they had no reason to celebrate on Bourbon Street. The Kings gave up 149 points to the New Orleans Pelicans in their loss on Friday night. The 149 points was a new game-high scoring record for the New Orleans franchise.

The Kings did score 129 points of their own, but it was in a losing effort. There were some highlights but a loss is a loss. This was the Kings first road loss of 2018-19, and they are now 0-2 on the season.

Joerger’s take
”I saw some really good things offensively tonight,” Kings coach Dave Joerger said. ”I see, certainly, a lot of things defensively that can be learned through experience that just takes time as younger guys learn how to play against older guys. I am not fired up about giving up 149, but I do like what I see from a lot of our guys.”

Maybe this reporter is just a little impatient, but he has heard the “I saw some really good things” line many times over the last two years. Yes, this is a completely reworked roster with some very young players, but the “I’m happy with some of what I saw from my team tonight” line is going to wear thin very quickly. After 10 games if the team is playing poorly, the coach is going to have to speak honestly about the way his team is playing. The time to “kick butt and take names” is coming sooner and not later for Sacramento.

Coming out party for MBIIIV
The Kings top draft pick saw some major playing time on Friday versus the Pelicans. Bagley played 32-plus minutes and matched up well against “the Brow” – Anthony Davis. MBIIIV put up 19 points hitting 7-of-10 from the field. He converted 5-of-6 opportunities from the free throw line. Bagley grabbed eight rebounds, had three assists and made three steals.

Not a bad second game as a professional for a 19-year old having to go up against Anthony Davis.

WCS comes up “Big” again
Willie Cauley-Stein was the Kings leading scorer for the second consecutive game with 20 points in just over 25 minutes of playing time. He shot an impressive 9-for-14 from the floor. The big man also grabbed seven rebounds.

Swipa the Fox and Buddy Buckets showed up as well
De’Aaron Fox shot 6-for-12 from the floor and scored 18 points for the Kings. He also dished out six assists and pulled down seven rebounds. The Fox hit 6-of-7 chances from the free throw line.

Buddy Hield recorded 17 points, hitting 7-of-11 shots from the field. Hield put in 3-of-4 tries from behind the 3-point line. He also added three assists.

Mr. Mason had a big game coming off the bench

Mason vs Pels
Frank Mason works against the Pelicans Photo: @SacramentoKings

Frank Mason III played just over 21-minutes and scored 18 points. Mason shot 7-for-13 from the floor and converted 3-of-4 from the free throw line. He also handed out six assists.

What about Harry Giles III?
Harry had a tough game on Friday night. He committed six fouls in just over 18 minutes on the floor. Giles scored seven points and added four rebounds. He shot just 3-for-11 for the game. Rookies sometimes struggle.

Team stats
The Kings shot 52.1-percent (50/96) for the game. The problem was the Pelicans shot 58.9-percent (56/95) in the contest.

Sacramento hit 10-of-25 (40-percent) from 3-point land. New Orleans buried 16-of-31 tries from behind the long-distance line.

The Pelicans outrebounded the Kings 52 to 39.

The need for defense
The practice on Saturday will be all about defense. The Kings have proved they can score. Now, they need to figure out how to stop their opponents from scoring at will.

Up next
The Kings will return to action on Sunday on the road in Oklahoma City versus the Thunder at 4:00 pm PT. The quest for their first victory of 2018-19 does not get any easier having to face a team a talented as the Thunder on the road.

Warriors return to form and dominate the Pelicans 118-92 for a 3-1 series lead

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors, who were thoroughly thumped by the New Orleans Pelicans Friday night in New Orleans, came out smoking as the led by ten points 14-4 in the first few minutes of the game and put the pedal to the metal as they soundly defeated the Pelicans 118-92.

The Warriors, who couldn’t make three-point shots in Friday night’s loss, made four of them in the first six minutes of the game and finished the first quarter with a 15-point lead 37-22. The Pelicans won the second quarter 32-24 to trail at the end of the first half by seven points. They went to the locker room hoping that they could come out blazing in the third period just as they did in game three.

The Warriors, who have played so well so many times in the third quarter, dominated on both offense and defense. The Warriors scored 33 points and held the Pelicans to 19. Teams trailing by twenty or more entering the fourth quarter very rarely, if ever, come back to win in the NBA. The Warriors continued to pound the Pelicans as they won by 26 points, 118-92, to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.

Game Notes and Stats: Steve Kerr made two changes to his starting lineup Sunday afternoon. He started Draymond Green at center in place of JaVale McGee and inserted Andre Iguodala at the small forward position. Draymond had nine rebounds in the game and now has 899 rebounds in his playoff record. He’s the third Warrior to reach that plateau. The other two players are in basketball’s Hall of Fame. Wilt Chamberlain leads with 922, and Nate Thurmond is second with 896.

Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 38 points, five assists, nine rebounds, one steal, and one blocked shot. Green’s line was eight points, nine assists, nine rebounds, four steals, and two blocks. Steph Curry knocked down 23, and Klay Thompson added 13. Backup guard Quinn Cook led the bench with 12.

The leading scorer for New Orleans was Anthony Davis wi]th 26 points and 12 rebounds. E’Tuan Moore was second with 20 and Jrue Holiday had 19. The Warriors were able to contain Nikola Mirotic as they held him to just seven points. Ian Clark, a former Warrior, scored 11 coming off the bench.

The stats show the domination of the Warriors. The Dubs shot 48.4% from the floor, and the Pelicans were held to 36.4% The Warriors mad 11 3’s in 33 attempts and the Pelicans connected on just four of 26 tries. The Warriors were able to move the ball much better as they recorded 28 assists and the Pelicans’ ball movement game, which was so good Friday night, was not able to get going Sunday as they were credited with just 17. The Warriors handled the ball well as they committed 11 turnovers. The Warrior defense, however, forced the Pelicans to commit 19 which led to 21 Warrior points.

Game 5 for the best-of-seven series will be played at Oracle Arena Tuesday night at 7:30 pm PT.

Opinion: Defensive issues cause Warriors to get run over by Pelicans 119-100 in Game 3

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Photo credit: @NBCSWarriors

By: Eric He

If the Golden State Warriors were looking to coast their way to the Western Conference Finals, the New Orleans Pelicans just reminded them that it won’t be all smooth sailing.

The Warriors fell 119-100 to the Pelicans on Friday in Game 3 on the road, and their lead in the series is now at 2-1. They were outplayed from beginning to end by New Orleans, never establishing their game and failing to mount a second-half comeback.

Instead, it was the Anthony Davis show. the Pelicans’ star recorded 33 points and 18 rebounds, having his way inside. The Pelicans shot 45.2 percent from 3-point range, giving the Warriors a dose of their own medicine. Davis dominated JaVale McGee, who got the start despite receiving minimal playing time in the first two games. McGee played just nine minutes and had a plus-minus of -10.

The Warriors had four starters in double figures, but found no rhythm offensively. They trailed by six points at halftime, but in the third quarter, when they typically make their push, it was the Pelicans who went on a run and outscored the Warriors by 11. New Orleans led by 17 points after three quarters.

But the issue was more on the defensive end. The Warriors were slow on rotations and allowed clean looks from distance. Jrue Holiday and Nikola Mirotic both provided supplemental scoring, while Ian Clark had 18 points off the bench.

Now, the Warriors would do themselves a huge favor by winning Game 4 and returning home with a 3-1 series lead. Otherwise, a series that felt like it was over after Game 2 may last longer than expected.

The Warriors rout the Pelicans in the first game of the Western Conference Semi-Finals

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Golden State Warriors routed the New Orleans Pelicans 123-101 to get off to a good start in the second round of the NBA playoffs. The Warriors’ head coach, Steve Kerr decided to go “small” as he started Nick Young at guard and went with Andre Iguodala, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Kevin Durant. None of the Warrior starters were over six-feet-seven inches tall except Durant. JaVale McGee played very little, and Zaza Pachulia sat on the bench.

The Warriors and Pelicans played a very competitive first quarter. The Warriors led by one 35-34 after the first 12 minutes of action, and it looked as if the game would be a nail-biter. The Pelicans led 12-11 early in the quarter and, although no one knew it at the time, it would be the last time the Pelicans would own the lead.

The Warriors dominated the second quarter. The outscored the Pelicans 41-21 to finish the half leading 76-55. At one point in the quarter, the Warriors went on a 24-2 run as they showed the Pelicans that they still knew how to play defense. Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson paced the Warrior offense with 18 points each. Draymond Green added 12, and Shaun Livingstone tallied 8. The Pelican’s Anthony Davis was the only starter in double-figures (12) for New Orleans.

The Warriors increased the lead to 29 by outscoring the Pelicans 27-19 to put the game on ice for Golden State. Kevin Durant and Draymond Green both sat out the fourth quarter as the Warriors coasted to victory. Kerr inserted McGee, Jordan Bell, and Damian Jones to finish the game. The Warriors win 123-101.

Game Notes: The Warriors won their 13th straight home playoff game. The 76 points scored in the first half set a team record as they scored 73 against the Phoenix Suns on May 4th, 1994. The 41 points in the second quarter beat the 40 they scored against Utah on May 11th, 2007.

Klay Thompson paced the offense with 27 points. Kevin Durant finished the night with a double-double as he knocked down 26 points and had 13 rebounds. Draymond Green was all over the court as he dazzled the fans with his fourth career triple-double. Draymond tallied 16 points, had 15 rebounds, and recorded 11 assists. Andre Iguodala had 12, Shaun Livingstone, 10 and Quinn Cook 11.

Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 19, E’Tuan Moore had 15, Jrue Holiday 11, and Jordan Crawford 14. The Warriors dominated the board with 57 rebounds. They had 8 steals and 10 blocked shots. The Warriors did not commit a lot of fouls in the game. The Pelicans had 11 shots from the charity stripe and made 9. The Warriors went to the free-throw line 32 times and made 24.

The was a lot of speculation before the game as to the status of Steph Curry. Curry, who has not played very much since March 8th due to ankle and knee injuries, was ready to go, but the Warriors felt that he would be better off coming back for Game 2 on Tuesday night at Oracle Arena.

As usual, Curry insisted he “feels great, and he’s ready to go,” said Kerr, who is encouraged his superstar point guard feels so good.

“Just made the decision based on giving him the extra few days and the fact he only scrimmaged yesterday,” Kerr said. “You’ve been out five weeks, and we’re playing in the playoffs, I don’t think one scrimmage is enough, even though he feels great, he wants to play and pleaded his case. But we’re going to sit him tonight and very likely he’ll play Game 2.”

Up Next: Game 2 is at 7:30 pm PT on Tuesday night at Oracle Arena.

NBA Playoffs: New Orleans will be tough in potential second round series with Golden State

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Photo credit: @NBAonSP

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

The Spurs shouldn’t be returning to Oakland for a Game 5 on Tuesday.

Golden State, leading 3-0 in their first-round series against San Antonio and looking unbeatable in the first three games, now has to play one more game after dropping Game 4 with a 103-90 rout Sunday afternoon in the Alamo City.

The Warriors now lead the best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series, 3-1.

Instead of sweeping the seventh-seeded Spurs, who are dealing with a myriad of issues from the recent death of Erin Popovich, the late wife of San Antonio’s head coach Gregg Popovich, to the ongoing Kawhi Leonard saga, Golden State allowed itself to cut 48 hours off its schedule to prepare for a New Orleans Pelicans team that will give the Warriors all it can handle in the second round.

The sixth-seeded Pelicans showed no remorse against the third-seeded Portland Trail Blazers in their first-round series. Many prognosticators, including myself, thought this could be a series that would go six or seven games with the Trail Blazers likely prevailing.

And why would you not pick Portland over New Orleans?

The Trail Blazers arguably have one of the NBA’s best backcourt duos in point guard Damian Lillard and shooting guard CJ McCollum to carry them over unheralded combination of  point guard Rajon Rondo and Jrue Holiday.

Oh yeah, and the Pelicans were without center Demarcus Cousins, who tore his Achilles tendon and was lost for the season on Jan. 26. Before the injury, Cousins was averaging 25.2 points and 12.9 rebounds per game and along with power forward Anthony Davis (28 ppg and 11 rpg during the regular season), were on pace to become the first set of teammates in NBA history to average at least 25 points and 10 rebounds per game according to ESPN Stats and Information.

Boy were we wrong.

Now, The Pelicans have all of their detractors eating crow with a side of “we told you so.” Portland (49-33) did finished the regular season with one more win than New Orleans (48-34), but it were the Trail Blazers that were over-matched.

New Orleans capped off the franchise’s first sweep of an NBA playoff series with 131-123 victory in Game 4 over Portland on Saturday night in front a rabid and sold out home crowd at the Smoothie King Center. The 131 points scored by New Orleans are a franchise record for a playoff game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

In the clinching game, it was the combination Davis and shooting guard Jrue Holiday that punched the Pelicans’ ticket into the second-round for the first time since 2008 with Davis pouring in 47 points with 11 rebounds. Holiday finished with 41 points and eight assists against the Trail Blazers who had no answer for either guy in this series.

Both Davis and Holiday surpassed current Warriors’ power forward David West’s franchise record 38 points (also occurring in 2008 according to Elias Sports Bureau) with their scoring barrage.

The 6-foot-10, 253-pound Davis imposed his will against Portland bigs, most notably against center Jusuf Nurkic, averaging 33 points and 12 rebounds in four games against the Trail Blazers this postseason. There’s no doubt that Davis will be a force against Golden State’s stable of bigs, centers Zaza Pachulia, JaVale McGee and Kevon Looney.

Throw in the aforementioned Rondo, a 11-year, defensive, pass-first veteran with a championship ring from 2007 as the starting point guard for the Paul Pierce-Ray Allen-Kevin Garnett Boston Celtics, the Pelicans have some pieces in place to make the inevitable second-round matchup with Golden State interesting.

Rondo, or #PlayoffRondo, is the unquestioned floor general for the Pelicans. In the four games against the Trail Blazers, Rondo recorded 17, 9, 11 and 16 assists respectively. For the series, Rondo averaged 11.2 points and 13.2 assists per game and was glued at Lillard’s hip the entire time, helping New Orleans limit Lillard to 35.2 percent shooting in the series.

Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry, who also has a championship ring as an assistant coach with the Warriors in 2015 before leaving for New Orleans, knows some of the offensive and defensive tendencies of shooting guard Klay Thompson and power forward Draymond Green.

Even with two-time MVP Stephan Curry still not ready to play in the playoffs for the Warriors, Golden State is still the better team than the Pelicans by far and can win the series without him since the Warriors still have another former MVP in Kevin Durant.

In the four regular season matchups between New Orleans and Golden State, the Warriors won the first three matchups: 128-120 on Oct. 20 at New Orleans, 110-95 on Nov. 25 in Oakland and 125-115 on Dec. 4, while the Pelicans got the best of the Warriors 126-120 on Apr. 7 in Oakland.

Warriors play better, but not good enough as they lose to the Pelicans 126-120

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Golden State Warriors, having been routed by the Indiana Pacers Thursday night, played a very entertaining and thrilling game against the New Orleans Pelicans Saturday night at Oracle Arena.

The Pelicans, fighting to get into the playoffs, came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter. The Warriors regained their composure and trailed by two at the end of the first half. Kevin Durant took charge in the third quarter, and the Warriors were able to own the lead by four heading into the fourth quarter. The Pelicans refused to be beaten. They outscored the Warriors by 10 in the period and beat the defending NBA champs 126-120.

New Orleans came into the game tied with San Antonio and Oklahoma City for fifth place in the NBA’s Western Conference. Every game is a must-win for New Orleans as they could end up in ninth place behind Minnesota or Denver. They started the game by making the first nine shots they took. They were 10-for-13 in the first six minutes of the game, and they poured in 40 points and held the Warriors to 32. The Pelicans finished the first quarter on a 10-2 run.

The Warriors started to play defense in the second quarter and were able to tie the game at 65 late in the quarter. The Pelicans made a bucket to finish the first half leading 67-65. The Pelicans were led by Anthony Davis, Nikola Mirotec, and the veteran guard Rajon Rondo. Quinn Cook paced the Warrior offense with 15. Kevin Durant had 11, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green each had nine, and Nick Young tallied eight coming off the bench.

In the third quarter, the Pelicans extended the lead to 80-72. It was at this point in the quarter when the Warriors went on a 17-2 run to take the lead for the first time in the game 89-82. The Pelicans regained their composure, but the Warriors finished the third quarter leading 92-88. Kevin Durant led the Warriors, and it looked as if they had the momentum to carry them to a win. However, Anthony Davis, Nikola Mirotec, and the rest of the Pelicans had other thoughts as they came back to take the lead 99-97.

The Pelicans caused the Warriors to turn the ball over eight times in the fourth quarter, and the Pelicans recorded 15 points off those turnovers. The teams were tied at 105 when New Orleans went on a 14-3 run to secure the win. One of the key plays for New Orleans came when Rajon Rondo picked Kevin Durant’s pocket as he stole the ball and that led to a big bucket for the Pelicans.The Pelicans win 126-120.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Pelicans improve to 46-34. San Antonio and Oklahoma City also won, and those three teams are 46-34. The Denver Nuggets also won, and they are 45-35 and tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are 45-35. The last two games of the season will be critical to these teams, and the Warriors probably will not know who they will be playing in the first round of the playoff until Wednesday.

Kevin Durant led the Warrior offense with 41 points, five assists, and 10 rebounds. Durant committed four turnovers Saturday night.

Draymond Green had a double-double with 11 points, nine assists, and 10 rebounds. Green had trouble handling the ball as he was charged with seven turnovers and the team as a whole committed 17 in the loss to the Pelicans. The eight turnovers in the fourth quarter cost them 15 points, and that cost them the game. Quinn Cook finished the night with 21, Klay Thompson had 18, and Kevon Looney, starting at center, pitched in with 10.

The Pelicans’ Anthony Davis, who outplayed Kevin Durant in the fourth quarter, finished with 34 points and 12 boards, Nikola Mirotec had 28, and he made five three-point shots. Jrue Holiday kicked in with 25, Rajon Rondo 12 and he had 17 assists, too. The Pelican defense had 15 steals and six blocked shots. The Warrior defense had no blocked shots and just three steals.

The Warriors drop to 57-23, and they have two games left on the schedule against Phoenix Sunday night in Phoenix and Tuesday night in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz. Utah is battling with Portland for the third seed in the Western Conference. The Warriors want to finish the season on a winning note but they know that the Utah game will not be easy.

Up Next: The Warriors take on the Phoenix Suns Sunday night at 6:00 pm PT.