Pelicans face steep task
Warriors, up 1-0, may get Curry back
If you thought Golden State’s Oracle Arena was loud Saturday night, and coach Steve Kerr swears it was as raucous as he’s ever heard, then just wait for tip-off on Tuesday.
Two-time MVP and Warriors fan favorite Stephen Curry is expected to return for the first time since he suffered a knee ligament sprain March 23 for Game 2 against the Pelicans in the Western Conference semifinals.
With the Warriors having been so dominant without Curry in Game 1, winning 123-101 while showing the kind of championship swagger that had been missing of late, it’s fair to wonder now that they’re about to get their biggest star back: Is this series already over? We won’t go that far just yet, but here are three reasons the Pelicans are in serious trouble.
Durant’s defense no Holiday
Jrue Holiday was coming off a fantastic first-round showing, the ninth-year guard having averaged 27.8 points, 6.5 assists and four rebounds in the sweep of Portland. Holiday and Nikola Mirotic (18.3 points, 9.5 rebounds) gave franchise centerpiece Anthony Davis the support he needed to help them advance.
But after muscling through Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and Evan Turner in that series, Holiday finds himself facing a more formidable defensive foe: Kevin Durant. The Warriors star might be listed at 6-9, but he’s widely considered a 7-footer. That length makes it tough for Holiday to find his spots, and Durant’s athleticism and speed mean he’s able to keep up all over the floor.
The end result in Game 1? Holiday, who also faced everyone from Andre Iguodala to Kevon Looney to Klay Thompson, had just 11 points (4-for-16 shooting), four rebounds, three assists and a -23 rating. As NOLA.com pointed out, Holiday was 1-for-9 from the field when Durant guarded him.
“Well, Holiday has been really, really good, in that last series and late in the year, so he was a priority for us for sure,” Kerr said. “I thought Kevin’s size factored in and Kevin did a great job on him.”
Mirotic was no better, finishing with nine points (3-for-9 shooting) and eight rebounds while facing everyone from Shaun Livingston to Thompson, Looney and Draymond Green.
Pelicans’ pace problem
Alvin Gentry knows as well as anyone it’s nearly impossible to beat the Warriors at their own scoring game. After all, the Pelicans coach was Kerr’s lead assistant until he headed for the Big Easy in the summer of 2015.
So while New Orleans’ breakneck style mostly worked during the regular season when it played the league’s fastest pace — 102.73 possessions per game, compared with Golden State’s fifthplace mark of 101.5 — Game 1 was a clear sign that it isn’t likely to work now. The game was even faster than normal for both, ending with a one-game mark of 105.96 that tested the lungs of all involved.
“Man, it was tiring,” Thompson said after scoring his game-high 27 points. “The Spurs (whom the Warriors beat in five games in the first round), they are a little older, so they play a little more methodical. They try to beat us up in the halfcourt and low block. This team is kind of like playing ourselves. It’s like, you make a bucket, you can’t relax.”
This hoops life is rough for the underdog Pelicans facing a Warriors team with the NBA’s greatest collection of offensive talents and that had the league’s best offensive rating during the season (112.3). Consider this key contrast: The Pelicans were 17th in offensive rating after losing big man DeMarcus Cousins to a season-ending Achilles injury Jan. 26, with a mark of 106.8.
Klay and Draymond
Newsflash: All-Stars, more often than not, play like All-Stars.
So now that Thompson and Green have found their games in the playoffs, it puts all sorts of pressure on the Pelicans to find an answer. Take out Thompson’s one bad game in the postseason — 4
for-16 from the field in a Game 4 loss to San Antonio — and he’s averaging 25.6 points on 55.9% shooting overall and
52.9% from three-point range in the other five. Green, averaging 12.2 points,
11.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists in the playoffs, has the highest individual net rating of any starter in the postseason
(+19.6).
“Draymond is going to guard everybody,” Kerr said in discussing Green’s impact. “He started on Davis, but when (Looney) came in to guard Davis, Draymond slid over to (Rajon) Rondo. You know how Draymond is. He wants to be in the fray and he wants to be in the middle of the floor. Middle of the action, I should say. We’re going to put him on people that are going to be in the middle of the action, and probably not guys who are spotting up and shooting, so that he can make an impact.”