The Warriors beat the Pelicans 138-87 Monday night, a 51-point margin, and Steph Curry didn't play the fourth quarter at all. He didn't need to. He had 25 points in just over 20 minutes, shooting 6-of-10 and a perfect 9-of-9 from the line, and by the time the fourth quarter started Golden State was up by so much that the reserves played the whole period in his place.
That's a startling scoreline, and it caps a genuinely interesting season for this team, which opened 0-3 and has now won eight in a row. This blowout doesn't tell you much you didn't already know, because New Orleans showed up unable to compete before the ball was even tipped.
Zion Williamson sat out to rest. Trey Murphy III was out with knee tendinopathy. Add in the other absences on their injury report and the Pelicans were down a huge chunk of their rotation against a team playing with a full deck. Stack the schedule on top of it: this was the second half of a back-to-back for New Orleans, and they'd been run off the floor by the Clippers the night before. A tired, shorthanded team walked into Chase Center and got exactly what you'd expect. Derik Queen and Dejounte Murray did what they could off a roster that had nothing else to give, and it wasn't close to enough.
Rating
RatingNone of this means the Warriors aren't playing well right now. Curry is doing a version of this act most nights, producing superstar numbers on fewer minutes than you'd think, and Brandin Podziemski and Yaxel Lendeborg combined with him for a huge chunk of the scoring, looking like real complementary pieces. Steve Kerr has built something with staying power through this winning streak, and pulling his franchise player once the game was decided is good, obvious coaching.
A 51-point win over a team playing without its two best healthy options and running on fumes from the night before doesn't prove much beyond the fact that depth and rest matter in this league. Blow out a 4-6 team that's down four rotation guys and gassed, and you've learned about New Orleans' situation. It doesn't tell you anything about Golden State's ceiling.
RTGSo point the finger where it belongs. The Pelicans' front office and medical staff put a battered, exhausted roster on the floor against a team that was always going to make them pay for it. Steve Kerr and the Warriors did nothing wrong, they just showed up ready while the other bench had nothing left to give. This is a mismatch New Orleans built with its own schedule and its own injury report.
