New Orleans Pelicans Golden State Warriors second-round stage is set
By Joshua Lea
It’s official, the Pelicans and Warriors are set to battle each other on the hardwood in the second-round. This series will be an all-out war.
The Warriors and Pelicans will begin on Saturday setting the stage for the second-round. I expect that this series will be drastically different from 2015. The Pelicans will give the Warriors all they can handle in this Western Conference Semifinal.
The Pelicans are riding high following their 4-0 series win against Portland in the first-round. They’ll begin this series on the road in Oakland starting Saturday.
The Pelicans will have to prepare for the Warriors this week without knowledge of whether they’ll see Stephen Curry or not. Anthony Slater, who covers the Warriors for the TheAthletic.com tweeted “Steve Kerr asked if they were ruling out Steph Curry for this weekend (either for Game 7 vs Spurs or Game 1 vs Pelicans), says it’s just “day-to-day,” didn’t want to “make predictions.”
I would fully expect for Curry to play on Saturday. The Warriors aren’t going to take the Pelicans lightly. You would think the Warriors know how much trouble the Pelicans can give them in this series.
The guard battle of Curry and Klay Thompson versus Jrue Holiday and Rajon Rondo will be fantastic to watch. Thompson’s defensive attack on Holiday will be a highlighted aspect of this series as well.
For the Pelicans, you’re literally asking them to stop or contain one of the most high-powered potent offenses in the NBA. The Warriors have the usual suspects on offense. Kevin Durant, Curry, and Thompson.
Guarding the Warriors All-Stars
All three of these players averaged a combined 72.8 points a game this season. The always vocal Draymond Green is also at times a scoring threat averaging 11 points on the season. The Warriors have decent bench role players as well. Nick Young, David West, and Quinn Cook have all performed well this season.
These two teams saw each other in 2015; however, both teams are in a completely different place. The Warriors have enjoyed much success winning two Championships in three straight NBA Finals appearances. The Pelicans have been on the grind, quietly getting better, and retooling their roster to what it is today.
So far in the Playoffs, the Warriors have relied heavily on the services of Durant. The former Texas Longhorn is scoring a team-high 28 points a game. He’s also averaging eight rebounds and five assist a game. Defending Durant is a top priority. It’s likely that this task will be assigned to E’Twaun Moore. This would place Nikola Mirotic (If he starts) guarding Draymond Green. Although, it will most likely be a combination of players switching. The Pelicans are going to have to avoid getting caught in mismatches.
One Major concern for Pelicans fans during this series
The most troubling situation in this series could be JaVale McGee guarding Anthony Davis. McGee is a walking injury waiting to happen. In fact, McGee is the reason that Curry is sitting on the bench thus far in the Playoffs.
I am not going to say the Warriors are a dirty team or anything of the sort. However, some of their players are a hazard to anyone who shares the court with them, including their teammates. Anthony Davis is a player who has had his fair share of injuries. So, I would expect for the NBA and the officials to keep a close eye on that particular matchup.
Next: Positives, negatives, and oddities from Pelicans Blazers
Game one of this Western Conference Semifinals begins on Saturday. Tonight the OKC Thunder and Utah Jazz will play their game five. Houston will also play Minnesota in game five of that series. OKC and Minnesota could be going home if they lose tonight. In the East Cleveland looks to go up 3-2 on Indiana and Toronto looks to rebound from back-to-back losses in Washington.