The New Orleans Pelicans going up against a banged up Golden State Warriors squad could make for a dog fight in the Western Conference semifinals.
New Orleans Pelicans Nation should have already come back down to earth after celebrating their unlikely upset in dominant style over the Damian Lillard-led Portland Trail Blazers. After all, is there anything more sobering than realizing you have to compete against one of the most dominant NBA dynasties of all time?
Of course, it was one of the most exciting series thus far, if not the most exciting, depending on how the Indiana Pacers fare against LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers.
That is now in the past though, and if guys like head coach Alvin Gentry and his squad want to keep New Orleans’ season going, they will have to make some noise against this Golden State Warriors team, regardless of how fresh Stephen Curry looks upon return.
Let’s not sugarcoat this: the Pelicans are 1-3 in the regular season against this team, but the one win came at the end of the season, and only in that game was DeMarcus Cousins out and Nikola Mirotic in… different dynamic, different outcome.
Granted, Stephen Curry wasn’t playing in that victory either, but truth be told, we can’t be sure how much he will play in this series or how good he will look out there.
Bearing all that in mind, here are the New Orleans Pelicans’ five keys to the series against Golden State.