In the first of three meetings in 12 days, the Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans 123-108 on the road Monday night at Smoothie King Center to establish a critical lead in the standings and the confidence needed to make the most of this final stretch.
Stephen Curry scored 41 points, Draymond Green tallied 10 points, 13 rebounds and 15 assists, and Andrew Wiggins added 26 points to lead Golden State in a win that essentially assures them a spot in the play-in tournament.
The Warriors (33-32) are now four games ahead of the Pelicans (29-36) in the Western Conference standings and a half-game ahead of Memphis for the No. 8 spot in the play-in tournament.
“We’ve got bigger sights,” said head coach Steve Kerr of bettering the team’s chances of hanging onto a spot in the 9-10 matchup. “We want to avoid that 9-10 spot and get into the 7-8 spot.”
The play-in tournament consists of games between the Nos. 7 and 8 teams, and the Nos. 9 and 10 teams. The winner of the 7-8 game advances to the playoffs as the No. 7 seed, while the loser plays the winner of the 9-10 game to determine the final playoff spot in each conference.
Entering Monday’s game, the ninth-place Warriors were three games ahead of the 11th-place Pelicans. Such a difference would typically be too significant for New Orleans to overcome with less than two weeks left in the regular season. But each of these three matchups is essentially worth double, given that a New Orleans victory would add to its win column while also adding to the Warriors’ loss column.
After leading by as many as 25 points in the second quarter, Golden State gave up an 8-0 run in the final 37 seconds before halftime and saw its lead slashed to six midway through the third quarter. But then Curry uncorked a patented third-quarter flurry and scored 15 points in the period to push the lead back to 15 heading into the final frame.
This was a night when Curry and Green were in prime form. Curry poured in points efficiently, going 14-for-26 overall, including 8-for-18 from 3-point range to best Pelicans star Zion Williamson and notch his sixth 40-point outing in his past 15 games.
“It’s just a matter of staying in the moment, enjoying what I get to do, having the utmost confidence in what I can do out on the floor,” Curry said of this historic scoring stretch. “Just enjoy the challenge, because I know I have to play well for us to be who we want to be this year”
Added Juan Toscano-Anderson, who finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists off the bench: “I know how to fight, but if I got Mike Tyson on my side, I have all the confidence in the world because I know Mike Tyson is knocking anybody out with a haymaker. So I have Steph Curry on my basketball team, and I feel good.”
Green, meanwhile, played a superlative game on defense. He broke up several of New Orleans’ actions, recorded three steals and two blocks and made things difficult for Williamson.
Williamson — the league’s most dominant scorer near the basket — still finished with 32 points but shot 50% overall, well below his season average of 61.6%. The rest of the Pelicans shot just 40.9% overall.
“If you had to pick one guy in the NBA to guard Zion, Draymond would be that guy,” Kerr said.
VIDEO: Draymond Green wins Marvel Arena of Heroes award
With the win, the Warriors showed they can meet a game with such major playoff implications with the urgency it demands. It was just last week that they were blown out by the Dallas Mavericks in a game that would have kept alive their hopes for the No. 6 seed and the right to avoid the play-in tournament altogether.
A loss Monday would have sent Golden State teetering on the edge of the play-in tournament. Instead, the win extends its cushion in the standings. It also established a blueprint for the next two matchups. The teams play again Tuesday night in New Orleans and will meet for the final time on May 14 at Chase Center.
“This was an important game for us, and we had to come out and play like it,” Wiggins said. “We want to get to (three) in a row now, keep it going, go back home and finish the job off.”
