The New Orleans Pelicans faced the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night at the Chase Center in San Francisco, and the Dubs came away with a 104-96 victory. The Warriors improved to 11-10 on the season, and avoided disaster in the team’s first game without Steph Curry since he suffered a left quad contusion.
It was an official NBA regular-season game. That’s the closest thing to a compliment this game deserved. The Pelicans have been one of the worst teams in the league so far this season, and were missing two of their most prolific scorers (Jordan Poole and Trey Murphy). The Warriors have been flailing offensively and were forced to face life without Steph Curry as the 37-year old missed his first game with a left quad contusion.
You could say both teams were hearkening back to a previous era of basketball, where prolific scoring was harder to come by. Both teams shot just 33.3% from the field in the first half and Golden State led 42-38 through two quarters. However, there’s a key distinction between elite defense and abysmal offense. Both teams were putting on an anti-clinic in the latter.
The scoring pace picked up in the third quarter for both teams. Brandin Podziemski scored 10 points in the quarter and Buddy Hield hit a pair of threes to help the Warriors answer a Pelicans run that briefly gave them the lead. Golden State held onto a narrow 73-72 lead heading into the fourth.
Still, no one was anything close to an offensive creator for the Warriors outside of Jimmy Butler, and even his scoring numbers were limited thanks to the attention he got from the Pelicans defense. The Warriors as a team made just 23.9% of their three-point attempts. Draymond Green’s struggles were particularly noticeable. Green was 0-for-9 from the field and 0-for-7 on almost exclusively wide open threes.
Podziemski finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Gary Payton II’s hustle and cutting wreaked havoc all night, helping him finish with 19 points on 9-for-14 shooting and 11 rebounds. Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga scored 11 and 10 points respectively. But Butler was the superstar, recording a team-high 24 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds with a +22 plus/minus. Butler was on the court for 37 minutes of action, and head coach Steve Kerr needed him for every minute.
Zion Williamson, Saddiq Bey, and Jeremiah Fears did the lion’s share of heavy lifting for the Pelicans. Williamson scored a game-high 25 points alongside 7 rebounds. Fears struggled with efficiency (5-for-17 from the field and 3-for-6 from the free-throw line), but still accrued 16 points. Bey was a matchup nightmare, particularly when Green and Butler were off the floor, and racked up 21 points leading the Pelicans multiple comeback efforts.
However, Bey cooled off in the final minutes, and the Pelicans simply had no answer for Butler, who finished a reverse layup and found Payton on a pair of assists in the closing minutes to put the game out of reach. The Warriors will now have two days off before they host the Oklahoma City Thunder at home on Tuesday night.
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