Warriors veteran provides vintage masterclass as Warriors roll Pelicans

Golden State Warriors veteran Draymond Green may no longer by vying for the Defensive Player of the Year title, but the 34-year-old is still capable of unmatched impact on that end of the floor.

Green produced just that in a vintage defensive performance against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night, leading the Warriors to back-to-back wins after Tuesday's 18-point victory against the same opponent.

The Warriors beat the Pelicans 104-89 at Chase Center on Wednesday

With Golden State playing without Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins, and with New Orleans without their own key offensive trio of Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum and Trey Murphy III, Wednesday's game was always going to a be a defensive-minded one.

Green ensured that with a suffocating performance on Zion Williamson, keeping the Pelicans star to 12 points after a 31-point outing on Tuesday. Williamson shot just 5-of-20 (25%) from the floor, with the Warriors also keeping Brandon Ingram to just 14 points and 11 field-goal attempts after he too went for 30 just 24 hours earlier.

But not satisfied with a defensive masterclass that included five blocked shots, Green also added some offense of his own with a trio of three-pointers on his way to 14 points and six assists.

Golden State wasn't always fluid offensively, particularly in the second-quarter as they were limited to 20 points by a New Orleans team that climbed back from an early 12-point deficit.

The Warriors found some rhythm in the third though, establishing a 13-point lead entering the fourth that was never truly threatened. Another six players scored in double-figures for the hosts, led by 21 points from Buddy Hield on 8-of-19 shooting and 4-of-12 from three-point range.

Jonathan Kuminga again played well of the bench, finishing with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting in just over 27 minutes. Golden State dominated the interior, with Trayce Jackson-Davis falling one board shy of a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds in just 20 minutes of playing time.

Starting at point guard in the absence of Curry, Brandin Podziemski played over 38 minutes and flirted with what would have been a first career triple-double. The second-year guard had 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, while Kyle Anderson also reached double-digits off the bench with 10 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting.

It was the defense that won the game though, having also initially helped Golden State back into the game during the second-quarter on Tuesday. The Pelicans were kept to just 36.7% shooting from the floor and 30.6% from three-point range, with Jordan Hawkins' game-high 23 points a clear indication that the Warriors weren't going to allow themselves to be beaten by Williamson and Ingram.

The Warriors now move to a 4-1 record through five games and will now head for a difficult five-game road-trip starting with the Houston Rockets on Saturday.