The Golden State Warriors claimed their first win of the season as they beat the New Orleans Pelicans 122-114. However it was Pelicans star centre Anthony Davis who shone as he finished with 45 points and 17 rebounds.
In a similar storyline to what took place in the Smoothie King Center two nights earlier, Davis was unstoppable Friday. Just like Wednesday’s game against. Denver, it wasn’t quite enough for New Orleans to come up with a victory.
Kevin Durant came to the party as she top-scored for the Warriors with 30 points also puling down 17 rebounds. Klay Thompson poured in 28 points while reigning MVP Stephen Curry claimed 23 points and seven assists.
Facing a historically great shooting team, the Pelicans picked a bad night to misfire from the perimeter, unable to keep up with Golden State’s prolific attack. Davis put up ridiculous numbers after going for 50 and 16 against the Nuggets, but the Pelicans shot just 5/22 from the three-point arc. Meanwhile, the Warriors didn’t have a great night either by their lofty standards, but still connected nine times on treys.
That discrepancy accounted for a chunk of the final margin, as Golden State rebounded from an ugly home loss Tuesday in its opener versus San Antonio. The Pelicans will face those same Spurs on Saturday in the second half of an extremely challenging back-to-back set.
Golden State’s Kevin Durant blocked a Davis leaning jumper, then sank a pair of free throws to make it an eight-point margin in the final minute. The Pelicans still had a glimmer of hope when they cut their deficit to six on a couple occasions, but the hosts couldn’t come up with a few crucial scores or defensive stops. Durant, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson each tallied 20-plus points as their offense clicked.
Following Warriors shootaround Friday morning, Durant said Davis’ 50-16-7 steals performance Wednesday might soon become routine for the All-Star forward. Well, Davis didn’t quite match that superhuman effort, but he still backed up Durant’s prediction with a second high-level outing. The 23-year-old scored 21 points by halftime and tacked on 24 more after intermission. He shot 17/31 from the field and 10/14 from the foul line. He also blocked two shots and came up with two steals. An incredible start to the season for the three-time All-Star.
By Jim Eichenhofer
First appeared on NBA.com Global
