New Orleans Pelicans: 3 takeaways from Game 4 vs. Warriors

With a 3-1 deficit in their second round matchup against the Golden State Warriors, the New Orleans Pelicans stand on the brink of elimination.

After an impressive Game 3 victory, the New Orleans Pelicans looked to be back in their playoff battle with the Golden State Warriors.

With that 119-111 win in their back pocket, along with Game 4 on their home court, it looked like New Orleans had a pretty good shot of evening up the series at two games apiece.

Then Game 4 actually happened, and the exact opposite result unfolded, as the Warriors routed the Pelicans wire-to-wire, winning 118-92.

Before tipoff, Steve Kerr decided to start the game with his famous Death Lineup, with Andre Iguodala taking the place of JaVale McGee, allowing Golden State to match the pace of the Pelicans.

Boy did it work, as the Warriors scored 10 unanswered points early, en-route to a 37-point opening period, while New Orleans didn’t score its sixth point until halfway through the first frame, finishing with 22.

From there, it was all Golden State. The Pelicans cut the deficit to single-digits, but couldn’t quite come all the way back.

Kevin Durant led all scorers with 38 points to go along with nine rebounds and five assists, while Stephen Curry continues to work his way back from injury, finishing with 23 points in 31 minutes of play.

For New Orleans, Anthony Davis scored 26 points but shot just 8-of-22 from the field, as the five-time All-Star struggled against the Warriors small-ball lineup.

Coming back from a 3-1 playoff deficit is tough against any team, let alone the defending champions. It’ll take everything and then some for the Pelicans to pull off the major upset and advance to the Western Conference Finals.