Golden State Warriors: 3 Takeways from win over New Orleans Pelicans

The Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans 128-120, getting their first win of the 2017-18 season. What did we learn from this bounce back performance?

No team wants to see the Golden State Warriors looming ahead on the schedule. However, every team knows it is inevitable, at least twice each season. There is no gripe to be had.

For the New Orleans Pelicans, there is. They have faced Golden State for three straight home openers, and have predictably dropped all three. They played well enough to win this year’s contest, but winning is never really up to Warriors opponents.

Following a tough opening night loss, Golden State’s core was determined to play better. It did, as Klay Thompson (31 points, 7-for-12 from deep), Stephen Curry (28 points, 8 assists, 1 turnover) and Kevin Durant (22 points on 15 shots) were efficient and disciplined. After falling behind by 15 in the first half, the Warriors settled in, and came back to win 128-120.

Here’s what we learned from the season’s second game.

1. Durant out-ADs AD

Early in the first quarter, Anthony Davis crossed up Zaza Pachulia, drove to the bucket and scored.

“At that size, 6-10, with that kind of handle, what are you supposed to do with that?” ESPN broadcaster Doris Burke said following the play. Besides the slight disservice that description did to Davis (he is at least 6-11), it was accurate.

It was also ironic, seeing as Durant — who is actually 6-10 and has a handle and off-the-dribble burst far superior to that of Davis — was on the court.

Davis will never be the ball-handler Durant is, and Durant never the interior force Davis is. Physically, neither is possible. Durant has always had Davis’ potential as an all-over-the-court shot blocker, though. He began to realize it last season, when he blocked a team and career-high 1.6 shots per game.

So far in 2017-18, he is averaging 5.5. He followed up a four-block opening night with seven in New Orleans, racking them up in every way imaginable. There were chasedowns. There was help. There was traditional rim protection, and there were smothering closeouts.

Many of Durant’s 2016-17 blocks were in transition. As he learns the Warriors’ half-court scheme, he is beginning to utilize his rare ability in more and more ways. While his per-game figure will probably come down a bit, Durant’s evolution into Davis-light is real.

2. Kerr utilizing versatile frontcourt

In my Game 1 takeaways, I discussed Steve Kerr’s decision to go small for the majority (29 minutes) of the night. It was unclear whether the strategy was matchup-specific, or a sign of things to come.

Two games in, matchup specificity appears to be the answer. Pachulia more than doubled his opening night playing time from 10 to 21 minutes. David West went from nine to 13. JaVale McGee saw his first 9 minutes of the season. All this despite a healthy Green and Iguodala cramming 30 additional minutes into the rotation.

The reason, one can posit, was New Orleans’ frontcourt. Nobody in the league can guard DeMarcus Cousins, but his array of power spin moves and pivots as he barrels toward the basket is particularly punishing against smaller guys.

Davis is a little less forceful. His ability to blow by ground-bound bigs (like the aforementioned drive on Pachulia) might even outweigh his ability to overpower undersized guys from a scoring perspective. Once you factor in his rebounding, the calculus shifts back towards putting a big on him.

Despite the Warriors’ rotational adjustments, Cousins and Davis both got loose. They scored 35 points apiece on a combined true-shooting percentage of 67.4. They hit six threes, grabbed 31 rebounds and had 10 assists.

However, the Warriors only lost the rebounding battle by one. This was due to strong boxing out from Pachulia, West and Green, allowing wings like Durant (8 rebounds), Iguodala (7), Livingston (5) and Thompson (4) to soar in.

So far, the Warriors have played two outliers in terms of their size, leaving Kerr’s true season-long rotational strategy unknown. We at least know that he is willing to play the matchups when necessary, and that his deep frontcourt is capable of delivering.

3. Do not take the Warriors superstar integration for granted

During ESPN’s broadcast, the network played a pregame interview clip, where Davis talked about meshing with Cousins. He said that the two still need to figure out when to pop and when to dive (because they often do the same one at the same time), but that it is “a good problem to have.”

Poor Davis. He has been so deprived of talented teammates throughout his career that he sees a big with redundant skills and a sub-rudimentary offensive scheme as “good” problems.

Sure enough, there were times throughout the game where both he and Cousins would boulder down the lane at the same time. It often would not matter; both are used to finishing despite a cluster of bodies. Still, superstar teammates should help reduce that cluster.

In Golden State, they do. Curry, Thompson and Durant all create space for each other. This is much easier when you have an abundance of shooters than an abundance of bigs, but it is more than that.

Remember, Davis and Cousins hit six threes last night. Both are special because they combine perimeter skills with their inside games. There is a way to leverage both simultaneously, just as there is a way for the Warriors not to do so.

Imagine if Curry and Thompson made the same cuts at the same time. Or if Thompson and Durant would both spot up on the strong side of a Curry-Green pick-and-roll. It sounds absurd, but that is only because we have grown to take Kerr’s offense — and his players’ mastery of said offense — for granted. Of course these guys are in the right place at the right time, we think.

Take a look at the Pelicans and Warriors’ first possessions in the video below, starting at 8:20:

Both resulted in 3-point plays — an and-1 for Cousins, and a corner 3 for Curry. Cousins got his despite Davis bringing the defense to him. Curry got his because of Thompson pulling the defense away.