Warriors Trudge Out Game 2 Win Over Pelicans

It looked shaky early and at several points throughout, but the Golden State Warriors trudged out a 97-87 victory in  Game 2 over the New Orleans Pelicans at Oracle Arena on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Klay Thompson scored 14 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Warriors. Stephen Curry added 22 points.

The Warriors started the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run capped off with a steal and an alley-oop dunk by Andre Iguodala. But the 81-73 lead was trimmed down just one as the Pelicans responded with a run of their own.

The Warriors took control from there, however, taking advantage of a tired Pelicans team. Thompson scored 11 of 14 points for the Warriors, who took a 95-86 lead with under two minutes to play. A three-point play by Thompson followed by a dunk by Andrew Bogut off a feed by Curry put the cherry on top of a Game 2 victory.

April 20, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors center Marreese Speights (5) celebrates with forward Draymond Green (23) and guard Andre Iguodala (9) during the second quarter in game two of the second round of the NBA Playoffs against the New Orleans Pelicans at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

A close game at halftime, the score was even entering the fourth. The third was a tale of two quarters; the Warriors opened on a 9-3 run to take a 64-55 lead, but the Pelicans battled and clawed their way back into it, holding the Warriors to just 16 points in the quarter.

Golden State missed all nine of its three-point field goal attempts in the third, and a layup by Anthony Davis tied the game at 71-71 heading into the fourth.

Davis’ 26 points along with Eric Gordon‘s 23 paced the Pelicans.

April 20, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23, right) shoots the basketball against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23, left) during the first quarter in game two of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Warriors got off to a slow start as they had no match for Davis early. Davis scored six consecutive points at one juncture as part of a 10-0 run that gave the Pelicans a 28-15 lead. Meanwhile, the Warriors went scoreless for a period of more than four minutes and trailed by double-digits after one.

But they response with a 38-point second quarter incited by a strong performance by the bench. An 11-4 run to begin the quarter capped off with an Andre Iguodala three-point cut the lead to 32-28.

Then, the starters re-entered and came alive for the first time. Thompson made back-to-back triples, his second one from way beyond the stripe from straight on to tie the game at 47-47 at the 2:15 mark. Curry, who led the Warriors with 16 in the half, followed with a three to beat the buzzer.

The Warriors’ 17-5 run to end the half and over 70 percent shooting in the second quarter gave them a 55-52 advantage into halftime.

Tale of the Tape

Warriors

• Field-goal percentage: 44.2% (38-86)
• Three-point percentage: 30.0% (9-30)
• Rebounds: 49
• Assists: 37
• Turnovers: 13

Pelicans

• Field-goal percentage: 37.8% (31-82)
• Three-point percentage: 35.0% (7-20)
• Rebounds: 42
• Assists: 20
• Turnovers: 13

Good to Know

It’s been a long time.

What’s on Tap

The series shifts to New Orleans as Game 3 will be on Thursday.