The Warriors don't have much to play for until the playoffs get under way the weekend of April 18-19. Yet they put on a fairly convincing show of grit in a 103-100 loss Tuesday night in New Orleans.
Coming off an ugly loss at San Antonio, the Warriors were playing their final road game of a regular season in which every significant goal has been met. They were facing the Pelicans, who entered Smoothie King Center in ninth place and hoping to nab that eighth and final playoff berth.
And with eighth-place Oklahoma City being blown out by San Antonio, the Pelicans surely discovered at halftime that a win would move them past the Thunder.
So the incentivized Pelicans came out for the third quarter with their hair on fire, quickly erasing a 13-point Warriors lead. New Orleans went up as much as eight (90-82) with 6:02 to play. The Warriors suddenly looked like a team ready to board the plane and head home.
But in defiance of the circumstances, they scrapped. And kept scrapping, going on a 13-2 run to take a 95-92 lead with 3:04 to play. A Stephen Curry 3-pointer tied the game at 100 with 35.6 seconds to play.
Although the Warriors fell short of victory, there was nothing to indicate anybody had a foot on the bus to the airport.
"I’m just proud of the way we fought," said Curry, who scored a team-high 25 points. "We were down six with a minute and some change left and had a tie ballgame."
The Warriors (63-15) were much more alive in this game than they were when being routed by the Spurs, perhaps because San Antonio is better than New Orleans. The circumstances, however, favored the Pelicans. So did the knowledge of the Spurs-Thunder score.
[INSTANT REPLAY: Pelicans down Warriors with strong second half]
Only history was clearly in favor of the Warriors, who had beaten New Orleans in their previous 10 games.
"They brought it; we knew they were going to bring it," coach Steve Kerr said. "They’re fighting for the playoffs and I was really pleased with our competitiveness in the first half. I thought in the second half we weren’t ready for their desperation. The first five minutes of the third quarter is when we lost the game.”
To be accurate, the third quarter is where the Pelicans (42-35) proved they wanted it more. Their defensive intensity went up, while that of the Warriors went down. The Warriors shot 36 percent in the third, the Pelicans 58.3 percent.
And yet, there were the Warriors in the fourth quarter, refusing to bail on a game they didn't need. There were a couple questionable officiating calls, to be sure, but this game heated up before it went to the team that played for need.
"We competed better [than against San Antonio], but we’re never getting to a point where we’re satisfied with the way we competed," forward Draymond Green said. "We expect to win basketball games. We have 63 wins this year, not because we’re satisfied with the way we compete.
"We were outplayed on Sunday; we didn’t compete well, but that’s probably happened twice this year, maybe three times. We’re not taking any moral victories in game 77 or 78 about how we compete. We responded to one of their punches in the second half. We didn’t execute well enough or make the necessary plays to win down the stretch and they did.”
The Warriors will take their defeat, only the second time since Christmas they’ve lost consecutive games, and come home. They have four games to get right and tight for the postseason.
Based on their display Tuesday night on the Bayou, determination won't be an issue.
THE GOOD
Green, coming off a poor game against the Spurs, was phenomenal. He finished with 24 points, 14 rebounds (game high), four assists, one block and one steal.
Center Andrew Bogut was a force in the middle: 8 points, 8 rebounds – and a career-high nine blocked shots, seven of which came in the first half.
The Warriors opened well, holding New Orleans to 29.4-percent shooting in the first quarter. Anthony Davis, Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson were a combined 2-of-10.
THE BAD
The third quarter, so often used to take over the game, was horrid. The Warriors played a scrimmage pace, while the Pelicans played, well, as if it meant something.
Klay Thompson was bad for the second straight game. That's rare for the first-year All-Star. But numbers (2-of-10 shooting, one assist, four turnovers) don't lie.
THE TAKE
On sheer talent and a single burst of late-game energy, the Warriors very nearly won a game they had no business winning. So put this one at the bottom on the save bin. They might see this team again in the first round of the playoffs. And if they do, they'll remember how they've owned them when it mattered and, after this, probably could have taken them when it didn't.
