Win sends Golden State to 2nd round
NEW ORLEANS — For about a month now, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has been waiting for his team to take its game to another level. The wait is over. The Warriors practiced most everything Kerr has preached this season in a workmanlike 109-98 victory over the Pelicans on Saturday night to finish off a first-round, four-game sweep.
The Warriors will play the winner of the Memphis-Portland matchup in the Western Conference semifinals, a series that could start next weekend in Oakland.
“This was a business trip, and we had a business-like mentality,” Warriors backup point guard Shaun Livingston said. “We were sharp, we executed, we defended and we paid attention to detail. We came with an edge.
“We all understood the magnitude of the opportunity, and we took care of business.”
With a chance to close out the plucky Pelicans, the Warriors played nearly perfect ball. They outshot the Pelicans 54.2 percent to 22.7 percent from three-point range, dished out
28 assists while committing only 10 turnovers, and outscored New Orleans 20-0 in fastbreak points. The Warriors even edged the Pelicans in rebounding (39-36), points in the paint (44-40) and secondchance points (11-10).
The stellar team stats came on the coattails of some brilliant individual efforts. Stephen Curry had 39 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, Draymond Green put up 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and Klay Thompson added 25 points.
“We felt good about how focused we were, but coach got into us after shootaround, because he didn’t feel like we had a sense of urgency,” Curry said. “We knew what the mission was and what was at stake. Any time you get a chance to finish out a series, you want to take advantage of it.”
They did it as Curry joined Wilt Chamberlain and Rick Barry as the only Warriors to put up at least 35 points in consecutive playoff games. They did it as Green became the first Warrior with four consecutive postseason doubledoubles since Sleepy Floyd in 1987.
The last NBA player to have four straight playoff point-rebound double-doubles with at least five assists in each game was Tim Duncan in 2003. Green’s historic series is fitting, because the Warriors made franchise history as a team.
Before this season, the Warriors had opened 3-0 leads in best-of-seven series only twice — each time coming in the NBA Finals. They beat Washington 4-0 in 1975 and Chicago 4-1 in 1947. Saturday’s win makes them the 67th team in 111 best-of-seven series to complete the sweep after taking a 3-0 lead.
“We’re a favorite, with the best record,” Kerr said. “This team has playoff experience as an underdog, and I think it’s easier as an underdog. You just come out and let loose. When you’re the favorite, it’s a little different feeling, so I thought that was important.”
The first quarter included five ties and five lead changes. Neither team led by more than four points until Curry buried a three-pointer with 48 seconds left to put the Warriors ahead 28-22. After a mini-run from the Pelicans in the second quarter, the Warriors respond- ed with a 17-8 spurt that was highlighted by back-to-back Thompson three-pointers to put his team ahead 60-47 with 2:26 left in the half.
An Anthony Davis dunk trimmed the Pelicans’ deficit to single digits early in the third quarter, and that was just enough to catch the Warriors’ attention. They responded with a 9-0 run that Curry capped with two free throws to push the lead back to 78-60 with 6:05 on the clock. The Warriors led by as many as 24 points in the quarter and brought a hush over the Smoothie King Center by heading into the fourth with an 88-67 advantage.
The crowd was quickly rustled to life in the fourth quarter when the Pelicans went on a 9-0 run and got Andrew Bogut, Green and Curry into foul trouble with four apiece. The fans were at their towel-waving best as New Orleans trimmed the deficit to 101-94 on a spinning layup by Davis with 1:49 remaining, but the Pelicans would get no closer.
Davis finished with 36 points and 11 rebounds, and Eric Gordon added 29 points in gaining the respect of the Warriors, who lingered on the postgame court to congratulate the Pelicans on earning the Western Conference’s final playoff berth and being a worthy competitor.
“I basically told (Davis), ‘I’m really glad we don’t have to go against you anymore,’ because he’s an amazing player,” Kerr said. “He causes problems at both ends and all over the floor.”
Spectacular, but still not enough problems for the Warriors when they’re playing at this level.