Subscribe
Follow Us
Despite being unable to steal home court advantage during the opening part of their series against the Golden State Warriors, the New Orleans Pelicans are confident their adjustments will translate into wins during their home stretch.
“We'll go home. Our crowd will be into it,” said forward Anthony Davis, according to William Guillory of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “I think we did a good job on both ends of the floor… We're living with some of the shots they took; they made them. (We're) making them shoot contested twos. (Durant) made some tough shots over some of our best defenders. We'll live with that.”
Getting two games against the Warriors will take a collective effort, as they managed to win without Klay Thompson having the best of shooting nights. Thompson shot 4-of-20 from the field and combined to shoot 4-of-18 from distance with a struggling Kevin Durant, who missed six straight attempts from distance.
“We made a lot of improvements. We put the work in the last couple days as far as our defensive schemes,” point guard Rajon Rondo said. “We were able to execute those for the most part of the game… They made tough shots, shots that we were living with according to the scouting report.”
The Warriors favored from a 20-point night from Draymond Green, an unlikely scoring suspect, along with 28 points off the bench from Stephen Curry, who made his return with 4:20 remaining in the first quarter.
“The first quarter in Game 3 is important for us to really set the tone,” Curry said during his post-game press conference. “(We) understand our defense needs to travel and be our calling card as we go to New Orleans because there's many runs they can put up, and when their crowd gets into it, it's a different environment. … Honestly, we can seize control of the series, but how we show up in those first moments of the game if we really lock in and do what we're supposed to do (is key).”
Game 3 will set the tone, determining whether this if there is a series to be played, or if the Pelicans will have to reconcile with the feeling of being possibly swept by a team with too much offensive firepower to contain.
