After trying to protect a lead in Game One, the Golden State Warriors had to battle back from a double-digit first quarter deficit to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans in Game Two in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs.
Led by Klay Thompson’s 26 points and Steph Curry’s 22, the Warriors took down the Pelicans 97-87 on Monday night.
Golden State fell behind early, trailing by as many as 13 after a strong start by New Orleans’ Anthony Davis and Eric Gordon. Trailing by 11 at the end of the first quarter, the Warriors erupted for a 38 point second quarter, capped off by a Curry three right before halftime, to take a 55-52 lead into the break.
The second half remained tight, as neither team could pull away from each other. Both teams exchanged leads throughout the half until Norris Cole turned the ball over with three minutes left and his team down by 3.
New Orleans wouldn’t recover from that, as Klay Thompson knocked down back-to-back three pointers, followed by an Andrew Bogut dunk that would ice the game.
Anthony Davis had 26 points and 10 rebounds while Eric Gordon scored 23 points for the Pelicans who now go home trying to avoid going down three games to none in the series.
Game three is scheduled for Thursday at 9:30, with television coverage provided by TNT.
