On Tuesday night in San Francisco, the Golden State Warriors defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, who were in town for the game, 120-109. Stephen Curry scored the most points of the night with 39, and he joined Klay Thompson in a second-half 3-point barrage that propelled the Warriors to victory.
Golden State outscored New Orleans 36-9 from beyond the arc in the second half en route to a significant victory that moved the Warriors (40-37) into sole possession of the No. 6 playoff spot in the Western Conference with just five games remaining. Stephen Curry finished the game with eight 3-pointers, and Klay Thompson finished with five. Both players helped Golden State outscore the Pelicans from beyond the arc in the second half.
The Pelicans (38-38), who had the opportunity to move ahead of the Warriors with a sixth consecutive victory, were led in scoring by Brandon Ingram, who had a game-high 26 points.
Stephen Curry
Ingram had 16 of his 26 points and CJ McCollum 13 of his 15 in a wild first half that saw the Pelicans go up by 20 points while the Warriors shot themselves in the foot with 14 turnovers.
But Golden State, down 63-46 at the break, used a 39-point third quarter to rally within 89-85 before gradually erasing the deficit and pulling away. The Warriors outscored the visitors 74-46 in the second half and limited their turnovers to five after the break.
Curry also found time for eight rebounds, eight assists, and three steals for the Warriors, who won for the fourth time in their last five games.
Thompson finished with 17 points for Golden State, while Jordan Poole had 21 and Jonathan Kuminga and Donte DiVincenzo 13 apiece.
Draymond Green, who was assessed his 17th technical foul in the first half for a run-in with Ingram after a flagrant foul, chipped in with a game-high 13 assists to complement eight points, six rebounds, and two steals.
New Orleans was playing the second night of a back-to-back after winning on the road in Portland on Monday. Ingram led the team in assists with seven and added eight rebounds to his stat line.
Trey Murphy III of the Pelicans scored a total of 21 points for his team, including shooting 4 for 6 from beyond the arc. After scoring nine times out of fourteen from long range in the first half, New Orleans shot only three of thirteen times from that distance in the second half.
