The Golden State Warriors would complete another comeback win against the New Orleans Pelicans with the final score of 125-115. Stephen Curry would put together another impressive line with five 3-pointers and 31 points to go with 11 assists. Unfortunately, he would also have to leave late in the game after rolling his ankle on E’Twaun Moore’s foot.
First Quarter
The Warriors came out sloppy against the Pelicans and quickly found themselves behind due to an early turnover-fest. The team had seven giveaways by the end of the quarter.
JaVale McGee got his first start for the season in place of Zaza Pachulia, but was quickly pulled in favor of Jordan Bell due to some missed assignments on defense to go along with the two fouls he quickly picked up against DeMarcus Cousins.
Meanwhile, Cousins and Jrue Holiday would go on to torch us for a total of 20 points in the opening frame.
Kevin Durant and Draymond Green would pick up technical fouls for arguing no-calls by the referees.
The Warriors were down by 13 going into the final minute before Stephen Curry scored a quick six points to cut the Pelican’s lead to seven.
Warriors 26 - Pelicans 33
Second Quarter
The Warriors would go on a 12-3 run to open the quarter to take the lead behind great defense and some timely scoring by David West who had four buckets. That second quarter opening unit would give us a 38-36 lead.
Steal leads to the Warriors lead! pic.twitter.com/s72ZwSjhdT
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 5, 2017
McCaw would then get clocked across the face by Cousins on a block, forcing him to leave the game.
Patrick McCaw leaves the court pic.twitter.com/Mt0gFCaBtn
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 5, 2017
Unfortunately, once the starters came back in, the tables quickly turned in favor of the Pelicans. Holiday would continue to literally breath fire, scoring 12 points in a row.
If there was any indicator of how hot the Pelicans were, it’s that perennially bad-shooting Rajon Rondo would followup the Holiday show by scoring eight straight of his own that included back-to-back 3-pointers.
At that point, no other Pelicans player seemed like they could miss while the Warriors starters would stay frigid, going scoreless for over four minutes.
To add insult to injury, Curry would also pick up his 3rd foul before the half closed.
Warriors 49 - Pelicans 69
Third Quarter
The Dubs kicked off the third stanza with another classic Warriors comeback display. Their shutdown defense would lead to eight straight stops while the offense suddenly came to life, which lead to a 15-2 run to bring the Warriors within striking distance.
Steph to KD for the DUNK!!! pic.twitter.com/Cd2ukoIF4Y
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 5, 2017
With Durant struggling from deep, Curry would start to show signs of life for the Warriors 3-ball by hitting a couple of them.
But then Holiday would single-handedly put the Pelicans on his back again by going on a 9-point streak with a couple of 3-pointers to give New Orleans a double-digit lead again.
However, while the momentum seemed to have swung back towards the Pelican’s way, Curry wouldn’t have it, going on a 8-point streak of his own to make it a single possession ballgame again. He would end up with another 15-point quarter for his career.
Craziness from Steph! pic.twitter.com/XQL2QYkIUx
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 5, 2017
Steph Curry scores 15 points in the 3rd quarter as the @warriors have erased a 20-point deficit... @warriors 100@PelicansNBA 98
— NBA (@NBA) December 5, 2017
NBA League Pass. pic.twitter.com/oTObLURbbE
Warriors 88 - Pelicans 91
Fourth Quarter
After trading buckets for the first handful of minutes, the Warriors would complete the comeback from their 20-point halftime deficit by taking the lead on this Iguodala steal-to-fast-break “I believe I can fly” jam.
Andre for the lead!!! pic.twitter.com/vgRlvzedrU
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 5, 2017
Unfortunately the offense began to stall at this point, ending up with isolation Durant pull-up jumpers that wouldn’t find the bottom of the net.
Curry would pick up his 5th foul with five minutes to go.
And then the Nick Young aka Swaggy P show rolled into town. He would hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Warriors a 5-point lead.
Nick Young battles with Cousins, then secures a big rebound, and hits a transition 3 to give Warriors the lead pic.twitter.com/GOdUickg92
— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) December 5, 2017
Draymond Green would extend the Dubs’ lead to ten by hitting a pair of 3-pointers himself with a minute and a half to go.
And then as if this game wasn’t wild enough, the final minute continued the roller coaster.
First, Durant and Cousins would get into a heated exchange, earning themselves ejections from the game with only a minute left.
And then Curry would have to leave after badly rolling his ankle closing out on Moore. He limped off the court on his own, but man did it look bad on the replay. I hope it’s not as severe as it appeared.
Curry leaves the game :( pic.twitter.com/jBvMfxxtMq
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 5, 2017
We would go on to claim the incredible comeback win, but not leave New Orleans unscathed.
Warriors 125 - Pelicans 115
Next Up
It seems like the Warriors have the Pelicans' number at this point, and this just joins the collection of incredible comebacks we’ve made against them over the past couple of years. The Warriors also became the first team in league history to have 2 comeback games of 20+ point halftime deficits in a season.
Hopefully McCaw and Curry’s injuries aren’t severe nor lingering, as the Warriors will probably need all the help on their longest road-trip of the season.
As of now, Curry will got x-rays on his ankle and they came up negative. We’ll keep you guys updated here on GSoM on any updates.
Next up is Curry’s hometown Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday.
Poll
Who’s your pick for tonight’s Warrior Wonder?
This poll is closed
-
18%
Kevin Durant
-
1%
Zaza Pachulia
-
50%
Quinn Cook
-
8%
Klay Thompson
-
1%
David West
-
7%
Jordan Bell
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0%
Kevon Looney
-
2%
Omri Casspi
-
1%
JaVale McGee
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2%
Shaun Livingston
-
1%
Patrick McCaw
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4%
Nick Young