Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors mean business in final stretch

The Golden State Warriors were up more than 15 and Stephen Curry came back into the game with eight minutes to play in the fourth quarter. That should tell you everything you need to know about how serious this team is.

While the New Orleans Pelicans failed to bring the energy, the Warriors, backed by an energetic Draymond Green and Curry, started out electric and continued that dominance even when the Pelicans started to close the gap.

With an 18-point lead after the first quarter, the Golden State Warriors resistance should give hope for a solid ending to the season.

New Orleans was able to get it into single figures in the third quarter. But, Curry extended that lead back into double figures where it stayed for the remainder of the game.

Even late in the game, Green was boxing out the massive Zion Williamson. After getting drilled for not boxing out, the Warriors showed some toughness against an inconsistent Pelicans team.

That said, this season has been anything but easy for Golden State. For starters, they’ve been playing without five-time All-Star Klay Thompson. The Big 3 hasn’t taken the court together since mid-2019.

On top of that, the Dubs may be without guard Kelly Oubre Jr. Oubre Jr. is the team’s third-best scorer, and he has arguably the highest ceiling of any non-Steph player for Golden State. When Oubre Jr. is on fire, he can single-handedly win a game.

Both Thompson and Oubre Jr. were out. Damion Lee was out. However, it didn’t matter as the Warriors have been doing everything through Curry. When Curry is sidelined, it’s Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole left on the court and told to create.

Golden State has another matchup with New Orleans and then back-to-back with the Oklahoma City Thunder. On top of that, they have the Grizzlies as their last game of the season and another matchup with the Pelicans.

They had a great start to their last stretch of play yesterday, and if they can finish their season on a seven-game win streak, there’s a chance they climb enough to get a top-seven seed. While that much advancement is unlikely, the Warriors have a realistic chance to win six of their last seven.

If Golden State’s energy is anything like it was against New Orleans in the first of their two matchups, this team is going to go down with a fight, and that’s something that should get fans excited.