Curry, Green help Warriors rebuff Pelicans
NEW ORLEANS -- Steph Curry scored a team-high 30 points, including a 15-foot jumper from the left baseline and a stop-and-scoop layup in the final three minutes, and Draymond Green made a key strip of Anthony Davis in the final three seconds to lift the Golden State Warriors to a 113-109 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night at the Smoothie King Center.
The Pelicans (8-18) trailed 111-108 with 13.4 seconds left when the Warriors intentionally fouled guard Jrue Holiday in the backcourt. Holiday made the first free throw but missed the second, and Pelicans guard E'Twaun Moore came up with the loose ball on the miss.
The Pelicans fed the ball into Davis, who was getting ready to make his move 15 feet from the basket. But Green, playing aggressive defense, slapped the ball from Davis with his right hand and forced a turnover.
Davis argued the call vociferously and picked up a technical foul. Curry missed the technical before Green iced it with two free throws with 1.4 second left.
The Warriors (22-4) also got 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists from Green for his first triple-double of the season. Kevin Durant scored 27 points as Golden State finished a 4-1 road trip.
Davis led the Pelicans with 28 points.
The lead exchanged hands several times in the final eight minutes. The Warriors led 102-100 on Andre Iguodala's 3-pointer from the right wing, and the Pelicans regained the lead 105-102 on a 3-pointer by Tim Frazier and a layup by Moore.
Curry nailed a 15-footer from the left baseline at 3:08 to put Golden State up 109-108 and added a layup, stopping under the goal for Davis to fly past him, to put the Warriors up 111-108 with 1:51 left.
The Warriors exploded for 37 points in the third quarter to take a 95-94 lead into the final period. Durant had 14 points and Curry 12 in the quarter, which featured a 25-10 Golden State run in the first six minutes that turned a 65-58 deficit into a 85-75 lead.
The Pelicans, however, closed the quarter on a 19-12 run to trim the deficit to one point. With Davis on the bench, New Orleans scored the first six points of the quarter -- with four coming on a layup and dunk by forward Terrence Jones -- to take a 100-95 lead.
Davis scored 13 points in the Pelicans' 35-29 first quarter, the highest-scoring first period for New Orleans this season. The Pelicans did it with excellent ball movement -- 10 assists on 14 made field goals -- and one of the NBA's weakest perimeter teams knocked down shots from behind the arc (5 of 8).
Curry had 11 of his 15 first-half points in the first quarter, including three 3-pointers, giving him 16 treys in five quarters against the Pelicans.
New Orleans led 65-58 at halftime by capitalizing from the outside, going 10 of 19 on threes. Langston Galloway led the way, making 4 of 8 from long range.
Davis finished the first half with 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting. The Pelicans' bench outscored the Golden State reserves 32-10 in the first half.
NOTES: On the final game of their five-game road trip, the Warriors gave C JaVale McGee his first start of the season for the injured Zaza Pachulia (right wrist). Coach Steve Kerr said Pachulia had an X-ray on his wrist but will have an MRI on Wednesday. "With Zaza out and having a full complement of players, we wanted to look at a couple of things," Kerr said. "It's early in the season and we're experimenting a bit and looking at a few different combinations." ... Pelicans G Tyreke Evans, who has been sidelined the entire season, is getting closer to returning from knee and calf injuries, coach Alvin Gentry said. ... Gentry said he likes having rookie G Buddy Hield in the starting lineup despite his struggles. "I think if he's out there with that group, there's a lot less pressure on him," he said.