Possible 1st-round opponent unbowed
The Warriors’ video department has been working overtime.
Given that Golden State’s first-round opponent could be any of six teams, video coordinators have been at team headquarters into the wee hours of the morning, cutting up highlights from any game that includes Utah, New Orleans, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Minnesota or Denver. Already locked into the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed, the Warriors had the chance Saturday night to go beyond the video and size up the Pelicans in person.
This much was certain: In its 126-120 loss to New Orleans at Oracle Arena, Golden State was reminded that the absence of DeMarcus Cousins wouldn’t make the Pelicans a first-round cupcake.
Golden State had little answer for the Pelicans’ up-tempo, movement-heavy system. New Orleans had three players — Anthony Davis (34 points), Nikola Mirotic (28) and Jrue Holiday (25) — score at least 20 points as it shot 56.3 percent from the field.
The Pelicans tallied assists on 39 of their 49 field goals. Even with Kevin Durant (41 points on 16-for-26 shooting), Quinn Cook (21 points on 8-for-14 shooting) and Klay Thompson (18 points on 7-for-14 shooting) showcasing their efficiency, Golden State fell to 6-9 in its past 15 games.
“It felt like a pickup game there for a while,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “If you let a team like that — that is good offensively — get going, it’s tough to stop them.”
As they finish their regular season with games at Phoenix (on Sunday) and Utah (on Tuesday), the Warriors have two goals: get healthy and continue finding a comfort zone without point guard Stephen Curry, who probably won’t return from his sprained left MCL until at least the conference semifinals.
The Pelicans entered Saturday fifth in the West standings, only because they had tiebreakers over two teams with the same record as them: San Antonio and Oklahoma City. It is possible that New Orleans, which closes against the Clippers and the Spurs, lands the No. 7 seed and faces Golden State next week.
So Saturday was a chance for the Warriors to glean valuable intel. Golden State hadn’t played the Pelicans since December, when New Orleans still had a healthy Cousins. Now, with Cousins out with a seasonending Achilles injury, the Pelicans are leaning on Davis, Holiday and Mirotic.
“That’s a completely different team without DeMarcus,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “So to play them now and see the different things that they’re doing, and to understand the things that they’re going to, what sets they like, I think is good for us if we see them.”
Mirotic, who was acquired from Chicago less than a week after Cousins was injured, is the type of skilled, sweet-shooting big man the Warriors often struggle to contain. With Mirotic leading the way, the Pelicans raced to an 11-point lead midway through the second quarter.
By the time he rolled his ankle in the waning seconds of the first half, he had scored 18 points and drained four threepointers. Mirotic returned at the start of the third quarter, only to be outdone by Durant, who poured in 20 points in the period to give Golden State a four-point lead entering the fourth.
The problem was that, without Curry, the Warriors couldn’t keep up with New Orleans’ offensive onslaught. During a timeout midway through the fourth quarter, Curry — in a navy blue blazer behind the home bench — appeared on the big screen as the crowd roared.
Unfortunately for Golden State, that is where he’ll remain, no matter who the Warriors face in the first round next week.
“Obviously, we would love to know who we will be playing, especially with two games left in the season, but that’s the beauty of the game,” Durant said. “That’s the beauty of the Western Conference, and teams just fighting all the way to the end.”