The Warriors continued to pull away and led 94-71 after Iguodala hit Golden State’s ninth 3 of the game late in the period.
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It’s a similar refrain to what was said after DeMarcus Cousins tore his Achilles tendon and when they suffered through a handful of losing streaks in the second half of the season, which almost derailed their playoff hopes. Of the core four Warriors’ guys, his minutes were the first to go in Game 3. McGee wasn’t almost as effective guarding New Orleans’ Anthony Davis, and the Warriors lost by 19 points here.
Meanwhile, to a man the Pelicans are the best dollar-for-dollar team deals on this slate. Durant also grabbed nine rebounds and recorded five assists. Davis also committed an unfortunate team-high six turnovers in the loss, and as a whole, the Pelicans turned over the rock 19 times which lead to plenty of fastbreak opportunities for Golden State.
Hosts Pelicans led by 26 points and 12 rebounds from Anthony Davis, and were never ahead, while Golden State stretched the lead to as many as 26 points.
Green became so agitated by the Warriors’ performance that he sent Durant a “long-ass text message” at 4 AM.
Thompson had 13 points, though he went 1-of-4 in the second half after making four of his first eight shots. They were 5-9 on 3-pointers in the opening quarter.
Warriors: Coach Steve Kerr went with a different starting lineup for a third consecutive game.
The Warriors are shooting 46.7 percent from the field in the postseason as a team this year. The Warriors have been good at the charity stripe, cashing in 81.4 percent of their chances so far.
In the game prior, the Warriors came out flat and found themselves defeated by the Pelicans, preventing a sweep from occurring.
Stephen Curry finished with 23 points in his third game since coming back from a 5 1/2-week absence due to a knee injury. For now, let’s take a look at why this thing is now 3-1.
Sunday’s performance it wasn’t the most efficient offensive game of Durant’s Warriors or National Basketball Association career, and it didn’t fill the box score in a way Durant has in the past, but it was eminently impactful.
Then after two more days off, New Orleans was re-energized at home and responded with its 119-100 triumph.
“They’re down, but they have an explosive offense and a great manager”, A’s manager Bob Melvin said.
“All five of us, we knew what we could get out of each other”, James said afterward.
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Utah could get a boost in Game 6 with the return of Ricky Rubio. Who emerges with the win in this contest? Green moved to center after starting at forward in Game 3, center JaVale McGee returned to a reserve role and Iguodala, who’d started games 1 and 2, returned to the first unit at forward. “I just try to play with force no matter if I missed shots or not, just keep shooting, keep being aggressive”. This one likely falls short as well.
