The Warriors started slow, and then Draymond Green got angry.
That doesn’t tell the entire story of Golden State’s first win of the season, a 128-120 comeback victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, but it does offer a bit of insight into how the first half unfolded, and how the Warriors ultimately staged a second quarter comeback on Friday evening.
After blowing a 17-point lead in a 122-121 loss against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday evening, Golden State hit the road for a three-game swing to the south and began its trip with a prime time showdown against an eager, upstart Pelicans squad coached by former Steve Kerr assistant Alvin Gentry.
Over the past two seasons, New Orleans has played its way out of playoff contention with dreadful early-season performances. So after dropping a 103-91 contest on Wednesday against Memphis, the Pelicans came out firing against a Golden State team that appeared jet-lagged for much of the first quarter. Thanks to eight first-quarter three-pointers, including one from center DeMarcus Cousins, New Orleans took command of the game early.
The Pelicans remained in control until the 5:27 mark in the second quarter, when Green was called for his first technical foul of the season. With New Orleans leading 56-42, Cousins thrust his upper body over Green’s before a New Orleans inbound pass. Green didn’t take kindly to Cousins’ physicality, and the subsequent no-call from Friday’s officials, so he shoved Cousins out of the way before the ball was inbounded.
Green was immediately called for a technical foul, and after a heated exchange with the officiating crew that forced Steph Curry and Shaun Livingston to step in and play a mediator role, Green calmed down.
So did the Pelicans.
Golden State seized control of the game after Green’s technical, closing out the first half on a 20-7 run and then extending the run early in the third quarter after scoring the first seven points of the second half. While the Warriors didn’t necessarily play harder after Green forced a game stoppage, they did cut down on the turnovers and offensive fouls that plagued them in the first quarter. Led by a late surge from Kevin Durant, who had six points in the final 30 seconds of the first half, Golden State cut New Orleans’ lead to three.
Though it was Durant’s early turnovers and over-aggressive play on the offensive end of the floor that helped put the Warriors in a hole, it was the intensity he brought to the floor on the defensive end that helped Golden State take command. By the end of the third quarter, Durant had already racked up four blocks, including two on the same possession when he lost his shoe and then turned away a Pelicans’ player on back-to-back attempts under the hoop. In the fourth quarter, Durant added three more to his total, bringing his final mark to seven, which eclipsed his career-high of six set on November 26, 2016 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
While New Orleans managed to pull within two points with under three minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Warriors leaned on Curry to help them gain separation as the longest-tenured player on Golden State’s roster hit a pair of free throws and sandwiched a three-point field goal around an alley-oop from Green to rookie Jordan Bell.
For the second straight game, Bell cut into the minutes that were typically reserved for backup center JaVale McGee last season. While McGee still appeared in the game for nine minutes on Friday against a larger New Orleans team, it’s becoming clear that the Warriors plan on giving Bell an opportunity to win a larger role.
In the game’s final quarter, it was Klay Thompson who gave the Warriors a spark with a three-pointer to bring his total to a game-high 33 points and gain separation with three minutes left. In the end, it was Curry who hit the dagger shot following a Zaza Pachulia offensive rebound with just over one minute left to put the game on ice.