Third quarter dominance leads Warriors to blowout win over Pelicans

For a while, dominant third quarters were a staple of the Golden State Warriors. It’s starting to look like they’re back.

Two days after outscoring the Charlotte Hornets 27-15 in the third frame to turn a one-point halftime lead into something comfortable, they took it a step further against the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Warriors played well enough in the first half, but a 12-0 second quarter run by New Orleans made the Dubs’ halftime lead just four points.

And then the third quarter came, and with it a thorough outclassing. Golden State outscored New Orleans 34-16 in the third frame, all but ending the game before the final quarter even began.

But they didn’t stop there. Even as they turned things over to the bench in the fourth — you know things have gone really well (or really poorly) when Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga enter early in the fourth — the Dubs continued to dominate. They matched their third quarter performance in the final frame, outscoring the Pels 38-19 to cruise to a 126-85 victory, far and away their most lopsided win of the season.

Let’s just take a moment and admire the demolition required on both sides of the court to beat a team 72-35 in one half.

Just as was the case against Charlotte, it was the Jordan Poole and Gary Payton II show. That the Warriors have these two to play in the backcourt with Steph Curry and eventually Klay Thompson is an extreme luxury.

Poole was dialed in offensively, shooting 10-for-15 from the field and 6-for-9 from deep for a game-high 26 points.

Payton again did everything, scoring 17 points in 18 minutes on 7-for-10 shooting, having three or four highlight dunks, grabbing 6 rebounds, dishing 3 assists, and playing his relentlessly brilliant perimeter defense.

Payton’s performance was the best of the reserves, but the bench as a whole thrived. Andre Iguodala dished out 10 assists in just 17 minutes, while Nemanja Bjelica had 13 points on just 7 shots, with 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, and a game-high +33 in just 18 minutes.

Curry had another game of being “just” quite good. He shot only 5-for-15 from the field, but still managed 19 points and 6 assists, with a pair of emphatic blocks in the defining quarter.

A total team performance.

The Dubs are now a beautiful 7-1 on the year. They’ll look to improve on that on Sunday against the Houston Rockets.

If you missed the post-game reaction show on Twitch from our own Marc Delucchi, you can rewatch the stream here!