Warriors vs. Pelicans Game 1: Dealing with Anthony Davis and More Takeaways
By Greg Chin
With Game One done and dusted between the Golden State Warriors and the New Orleans Pelicans, the game itself on reaffirmed what many Warriors’ fans were aware of before the series even started: Anthony Davis holds the key to the series for the Pelicans.
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After an already-impressive regular season performance, Davis continued his onslaught in his playoffs debut, going for 35 points, seven rebounds, and four blocks. Davis started the game off slowly, but scored 20 points in the final quarter to lead the Pelicans’ late-game charge.
The Warriors tried different looks to try and limit Davis’ influence on the game, and for the first three quarters, it worked. Draymond Green was assigned as Davis’ main defender, and despite the large physical disadvantage, Green did well. He fought for low-post position and constantly harassed Davis.
April 18, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23, right) controls the basketball against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the first quarter in game one of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Davis’ fourth-quarter barrage could have been due to Green suffering an injury. After setting a screen for Stephen Curry at the 7:06 mark of the fourth quarter, Green sprained his ankle. Over the next few possessions, Davis went at Green, and made four of his five field goal attempts after Green started hobbling.
Perhaps the Warriors’ defensive scheme for Davis works, and his fourth-quarter scoring was just an aberration.
Scoring aside, the Warriors did well to curtail the Davis’ rebounding effort too. Andrew Bogut and Green worked hard on the glass, and didn’t allow the Pelicans to have a single player with double-digit rebounds. The Warriors have had games where they’ve given up too many offensive rebounds in the season against bigger lineups, so it was good to see the double-big lineup of Omer Asik and Davis limited to just 16 rebounds.
Here are some other takeaways I had from the game:
- It was extremely important for the Warriors to win Game 1 of their first-round series. Just imagine the pressure on the team if they were to lose the first game of the playoffs after finishing up a record-breaking regular season.
- This is what happens when Stephen Curry gets switched onto a stiff center.
- The Warriors need to find a better way to deal with the Norris Cole–Klay Thompson size mismatch (Cole is 6’2”, while Thompson is 6’7”). Warriors’ fans might still be suffering PTSD from Mark Jackson’s constant post-ups, but posting up Thompson on the smaller Cole might be the way to go.
- On the note of the former coach turned broadcaster Mark Jackson: it was good to finally hear him remain professional on a Warriors’ game broadcast. He praised the team, and even lobbied for his replacement Steve Kerr as “Coach of the Year”. Perhaps his employers had a word or two with him after his sub-par and less-than-professional in-game statements when covering the Warriors’ games.
- We’re only in Game 1, but Draymond Green is already getting into the Pelicans’ faces and getting under their skin. Here’s Green getting pushed in the face after some tussling underneath the hoop.
- A poor free-throw shooting game by the Splash Brothers, who were a combined 10-of-16 from the charity stripe. However, don’t expect this to be a regular occurrence from Thompson (87 percent free throw shooter) and Curry (91 percent free throw shooter) throughout the series.
- The bench players need to step up. Marreese Speights played one minute, but was an instant -5 while he was on the court, and Shaun Livingston hasn’t looked like himself after getting a bit too personal with Dirk Nowitzki. The bench has been really poor with sustaining leads of late, which could be problematic.
- More Leandro Barbosa madness!