Warriors find unlikely hero in completing huge comeback win over Pelicans

You know you've got a deep roster when the 13th man can be a legitimate game-changer for you. It may sound crazy in theory, but that's exactly what Lindy Waters III was for the Golden State Warriors in a 124-106 win against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night.

Having been out of an already deep 12-man rotation over the first three games, Waters was given his opportunity with a host of big names out for the Warriors. Not only were Stephen Curry and De'Anthony Melton absent as confirmed on Monday, but Golden State were also dealt a further blow when Andrew Wiggins was ruled out hours before tip-off.

Lindy Waters III proved an unlikely hero for the Warriors on Tuesday

Waters went from out of the rotation to playing nearly 31 minutes, taking his opportunity with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting in the 18-point victory. The 27-year-old also had nine rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block, finishing as a game-high +26 in a truly incredible performance.

It looked like a disaster early for the Warriors who were limited to just 14 points in the opening period. They fell down by 20 early in the second-quarter, but what happened next was hardly believable.

Golden State turned up the intensity on defense, forcing New Orleans into a plethora of turnovers that helped ignite their offense. By half-time the margin was back to four, yet things still weren't totally clicking offensively.

That was until the second-half, with the Warriors coming out a completely different team than the one that started the game. Waters started the third-quarter in place of Buddy Hield, helping propel a 40-point period as Golden State took an eight-point lead to the final quarter.

But if it was Waters that helped produce the comeback in the second and third-quarters, it was Hield who completely shut the Pelicans out in the fourth. After a 1-of-8 shooting performance in the first-half, the veteran guard had 19 points in the fourth-quarter alone to finish with a team-high 28 points on 9-of-18 shooting and 7-of-11 from three-point range.

Hield and Waters led a three-point shooting barrage over the final three-quarters, with Golden State finishing 21-of-46 (45.7%) from beyond the arc. In contrast, the Pelicans took just 22 three-point attempts on the evening.

Five Warrior players scored at least 17 points, with Hield and Waters joined by Brandin Podziemski (19), Moses Moody (17) and Jonathan Kuminga (17). The latter was a controversial benching even despite the absence of Curry and Wiggins, yet responded with his best performance of the short season.

Kuminga had three rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block to go with his 17 points, having played a season-high 28 minutes despite coming off the bench.

The Pelicans got 61 combined points from Zion Williamson (31) and Brandon Ingram (30), but shot themselves in the foot with 22 turnovers of which huge credit must go to the Golden State defense who were active and produced 14 steals.

The Warriors now move to 3-1 on the season, with the two sides set to face off again in the same building on Wednesday from 7:00 PM PT.