Golden State confident after sweep of Pelicans
Patiently awaits winner of Griz-Blazers
NEW ORLEANS — Golden State coach Steve Kerr deadpanned that he’d be relaxing on the beaches of Cabo San Lucas while waiting to find out who would be the Warriors’ second-round playoff opponent.
“I’ll be in Cabo all week. I told the guys just to get some work in if they want,” Kerr said, smiling.
Among those who won’t be laughing is the Warriors’ next opponent, which will have to figure out how to stop Stephen Curry and Co. from scoring in bunches, as they did in their four-game sweep of burgeoning young All-Star Anthony Davis and the upstart New Orleans Pelicans.
Now Golden State awaits the winner of the Memphis-Portland matchup. The Grizzlies lead the series 3-0 with Game 4 tonight in Portland.
On Saturday night, the Warriors came through with their most complete performance of the first round, building a 13-point lead at halftime, widening it to 24 late in the third quarter and squelching the Pelicans’ comeback bid in the fourth quarter, 109-98.
Curry scored against everyone the Pelicans sent out to guard him, including the 6-10 Davis, in the clinching game. He also hit 6 of 8 3-point shots as he finished with 39 points.
He had plenty of help from Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
Curry averaged 33.8 points during the series, Thompson averaged 25 and Green 15.8.
“You play great defense and all of a sudden it looks like they’re throwing up a shot, but it goes in,” Davis said. “It’s tough. Hats off to them. They made incredible shots through the course of the series. We tried our best to stay attached to them, but they did a great job. Some of it was us and some of it was them hitting tough shots.”
Meanwhile, Andrew Bogut made it hard on any Pelican player trying to score inside, blocking eight shots in the series.
“They’re built to win a championship. They’re probably the most complete team that we faced, them and San Antonio,” Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. “I had to watch games that they lost just to see what teams did against them because you just don’t see it when they’re winning games. You’re like, ‘Where’s the weakness?’ So to me, they just don’t have many weaknesses, if any. Obviously they’re well-coached and they have great players.”
The Warriors were in control for most of the series. The exception was Game 3, when they trailed by 20 entering the fourth quarter — on the road — yet still found a way to tie it at the end of regulation and win in overtime.
“We still have a long way to go to accomplish what we want to do,” Thompson said. “We’ve had a bull’s eye on our back the whole year, but that makes it more fun. If you want to be great, you have to have high expectations. ... We’ve still got guys who really want to go deep in the postseason, including myself, who haven’t had that experience yet.”
The Warriors foresee tougher challenges but appear confident.
“If we just keep our composure to start games, especially on the road, we’ll be fine,” Curry said. “Our defense is what it is; it’s carried us all season, and that will be there for us. But, offensively, if we just stick to who we are, moving the basketball, looking for the best shot every possession, our talent will shine across the board and we’ll be in good shape.”