Golden State Warriors #ThrowbackThursday: Game 3 vs. Pelicans (2015)

In honor of #ThrowbackThursday, I recall the last time the Golden State Warriors played a Game 3 against the New Orleans Pelicans (2015).

Dubs scheduled to play Game 3 (2018) at the Smoothie King Center this Friday.

On April 23, 2015, I was but a young, determined blogger covering the Golden State Warriors for a site that will go unnamed. It was my responsibility that night to live tweet Game 3 of their first round matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans, which I normally did in the comfort of my home.

But I was feeling spontaneous that day, not to mention incredibly hungry. Rather than confine myself to the walls of a house, I opted to bring what was then my newly-minted MacBook Bro to a respectable food establishment that just so happens to specialize in showing sports entertainment.

I’m speaking, of course, of Buffalo Wild Wings, which not only should be paying me sponsorship money for this shoutout, but had just opened a venue not too far from my neighborhood. As an added bonus, I had a coupon for a free order of wings, so I got my usual: six boneless nuggets smothered in their signature Asian Zing sauce, along with a Jack and Coke.

As I took a look around me, I realized all too late that I was completely surrounded by a sea of blue and gold. Golden State had been on the rise for quite some time, but this was by far the largest group of Warriors fans I had ever seen at a restaurant.

I mean, the place was absolutely packed. To be quite honest, I’m pretty sure the staff had violated fire code by letting all those people in by the bar. Some of the patrons that didn’t have a seat actually asked if they could sit next to me, and there were still others clogging up the aisles.

Together, we watched as the Warriors got out to a great start against the Pelicans, going up by as many as eight in the first four-and-a-half minutes. The Splash Brothers started the game hot, dropping in a total of 19 points (five threes) on 6-of-10 shooting.

Unfortunately, that would end up being GSW’s largest lead of the night as the Pelicans made a run to take a one-point lead by the end of the first quarter. Then, for whatever reason, the Warriors let the game get out of hand as soon as the second quarter began, allowing the Pelicans to push their advantage to as many as 16 before cutting it to nine by halftime.

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Klay Thompson had to play the entire second quarter, keeping the Warriors in it with eight points. Through the combined effort of Norris Cole, Ryan Anderson and Tyreke Evans, however, the Pelicans put together a 37-point effort before the break, nearly taking the Warriors out of the game.

To follow that up, the Dubs had absolutely no answer to start the second half, opening the door for the Pels to establish a 20-point lead. Golden State was limited to only 20.8 percent shooting in the third quarter, dropping in just 17 points.

Any other team in the NBA would have accepted that it wasn’t their night, pulled their starters and lived to fight another day. The crowd at B-Dubs had certainly accepted the probable L, plunging into an uncomfortable silence.

Yet as quiet as the restaurant was, by no means had the fans given up hope entirely. In fact, I’d surmise that more people had squeezed in after the third quarter, expecting the Warriors to pull off some kind of epic comeback.

As everyone’s eyes remained transfixed on the center screen above the bar, Golden State slowly but surely started to chip away at the deficit. Klay brought the game to within 10 with a couple free throws at the 3:56 mark in the fourth quarter, which was followed by a putback slam from Harrison Barnes.

Then Klay hit a turnaround. Draymond Green got on the offensive glass, dropping in two consecutive layups off a couple missed shots from Curry. Shaun Livingston split free throws to bring the game to within three. Jrue Holiday answered with a couple free throws of his own to get NOP’s lead back up to five.

What happened next was legendary.

With roughly 15 seconds left in the game, Curry received a dish from Draymond, pump faking the sh*t out of Jrue Holiday before launching the three-pointer that would cut the deficit to two. Anthony Davis drew a foul, but missed the first free throw before finishing the second.

Nine seconds left and Curry receives the inbounds pass from Draymond, heaving a prayer from the left wing facing the basket. Showing incredible awareness on the play, Marreese Speights rushed in to secure the offensive board and handed the ball back to Curry, who hit the CRAZIEST corner three over Davis and Evans (karma for stealing Curry’s Rookie of the Year award in 2009, no doubt).

And let me tell you: B-Dubs went INSANE. The entire restaurant exploded into cheers. I had strangers’ saliva on my face from all the screaming that was going on. I got a high-five from at least five people, including the bartender. I even hugged my waitress.

The Warriors went on to win 123-119, extending their first round lead over the Pelicans to 3-0. Golden State eventually won Game 4 to complete the sweep, and Curry was named the NBA’s MVP just a week later. In time, he would lead Warriors to wins over the Memphis Grizzlies, the Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers, culminating in GSW’s first title in 40 years.

Next: Takeaways from Game 2 Win Vs. Pelicans

But as special as Game 6 in Cleveland was, the one playoff game from that year that I’ll always remember is Game 3 in New Orleans, April 23, 2015.

Rather than livetweet alone in my living room, I made the right decision to hit up the local Buffalo Wild Wings, where I not only got to enjoy a delicious meal, but I was also privileged enough to witness exactly what makes DubNation so awesome.

Where were you?