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After three consecutive troubling performances against inferior opponents, the Warriors spent most of Friday night trending toward a fourth such act, this time against a team considerably worse than the previous three.
The New Orleans Pelicans, 20-53, missing four starters and already seated on the bullet train to the NBA draft lottery, put up all the fight the Warriors could take before Golden State, finally, in the fourth quarter, responded like a team in a playoff race.
The Warriors needed every bit of their 15-point fourth-quarter advantage to slip out of Smoothie King Center with a 111-95 victory that left them still searching for satisfaction.
“I thought we stuck with it,” Draymond Green told reporters in New Orleans. “Got off to a slow start, and then once we found our footing we kind of found our rhythm. And in the second half, it really started to feel like us.
“Not great. It can get a lot better. But I love the way we closed the game.”
Golden State through three quarters managed only a one-point lead (83-82) over New Orleans’ backups before finding their bearings in the fourth quarter as the Pelicans ran aground in ways the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat – the previous two opponents – did not.
The Warriors are so deep in their own quicksand they’re hoping those 12 good minutes, against a team with no business threatening them, are enough to pull them out.
“I thought we played fine,” coach Steve Kerr said. “I didn’t love the passing, especially in the first half, but we took care of the ball better in the second half. We missed some wide-open shooters in the first half and didn’t pass them the ball. That disrupted our rhythm and kind of messed with the game a little bit.
“But overall, I thought we got really good shots. The second half was much better with the ball movement, the flow, and the defense was good.”
That this was such a grind demonstrates that the Warriors, even with the return of Stephen Curry, offered little to signify they have solved the issues that have nagged them since their last satisfying win, March 18 over the Milwaukee…
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Publish date : 2025-03-28 22:16:00
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