On Friday night, the Golden State Warriors defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 108-99 to cap off an unbeaten five-game homestand. Just in time for Steph Curry’s return, the Dubs have equaled their longest winning run of the season. Dub Nation is in good shape right now.
Despite another strong finish, Golden State once again stumbled out of the gate. The Pelicans jumped out to an early 13-4 lead and cruised to a 35-21 lead at the end of the first quarter. Draymond Green was in early foul trouble and fouled out in less than 24 minutes of action. In his place, though, the Warriors received several big contributions from their backup bigs.
Jonathan Kuminga’s emergence as a pivotal role player continued with arguably one of his best performances of the season. Kuminga recorded 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 steals on 9-for-13 shooting from the field with a game-high +13 plus/minus. JaMychal Green (14) and Anthony Lamb (11) each added double-digit points off the bench as well.
The Warriors evened things up by halftime and took control over the course of the third quarter. New Orleans briefly retook the lead with 5:31 left in regulation, but a Klay Thompson triple put Golden State ahead for good a couple minutes later. Thompson scored a game-high 27 points on 10-for-17 shooting from the field. Kevon Looney also added a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds).
Warriors are now 34-30 on the season, in sole posession of the fifth seed in the Western Conference. They are one game behind the Suns for the fourth seed and two games ahead of the Mavericks-who are currently sixth in the West. Curry is slated to return on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena with opening tip off scheduled for 12:30 PM Pacific.
Source: https://www.goldenstateofmind.com
