Mere minutes after hoisting their championship banner and receiving rings for what was an historical performance last year, the defending champion Golden State Warriors put on a show for their home crowd at Oracle Arena in Oakland on Tuesday night.
Stephen Curry went off in the first quarter, going for a whopping 24 points en route to a 40-point performance in the 111-95 victory over former Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry and the New Orleans Pelicans.
After allowing a whopping 35 first quarter points, Golden State's defense picked it up big time in the final three quarters, yielding a total of 60 points. Overall, the Pelicans shot 42 percent from the field, including a disastrous 4-of-20 mark for big man Anthony Davis.
Some expected a bit of a down performance from the Warriors on "ring night," but that never really came to fruition. Up only four points after the initial stanza, Golden State took a 10-point lead into the third quarter before opening that lead up to 19 heading into the final 12 minutes.
Aiding in Curry's 40-point outing was a center tandem in Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli, who combined to shoot 12-of-16 from the field for 25 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Draymond Green added eight points and eight boards while providing his normal brand of dominating defense.
Even with head coach Steve Kerr still sideline after two off-season back surgeries, Golden State didn't seem to miss a beat. It did turn the ball over 20 times, but a lot of that could be directed at what was an electric atmosphere at Oracle on Tuesday night. Nerves had to be running a bit high.
For the Pelicans, this loss is nowhere near the end of the world. The team was playing with just nine guys, as both Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans were sitting with injuries. Add in Davis' horrendous shooting performance, and the writing was on the wall here.
Game/Fantasy Notes
* Curry's 40-point performance was the most points a reigning NBA MVP has tallied in a season opener since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1971.
* The Warriors tied their franchise record for most consecutive regular season home wins with 19 — a feat they also accomplished last year.
* Davis wasn't the only All-Star to struggle Tuesday night. Klay Thompson scored just nine points on 3-of-8 shooting while turning the ball over seven times. He played just 26 minutes due to foul trouble.
* Signed just two days ago, Pelicans guard Ish Smith finished with 17 points and nine assists in a whopping 38 minutes.
* Curry finished as the top FanDuel player with 59.7 fantasy points. Of the three big fantasy players in the game — Davis and Thompson included — he's the only one that exceeded expectations.