As the final seconds ticked away on New Orleans’ 2014-15 season, thousands of white-clad Pelicans fans stood and applauded Saturday. The Pelicans were one of the NBA’s most improved teams this season and provided their fan base with numerous memorable moments, highlighted by a Game 82 win over San Antonio to get into the playoffs. But despite playing well at times during their Western Conference first-round matchup vs. Golden State, it wasn’t enough, as the 67-win Warriors completed a sweep. None of the victories came easily for Golden State, including this one. The Warriors built a lead of as many as 24 points in the second half, but the hosts surged back to make for some drama in the final minutes. Ultimately though, the elite shooting of Stephen Curry (39 points) and Klay Thompson (25 points) gave the Warriors enough to turn back the Pelicans and advance to the second round. They’ll face the winner of the Memphis/Portland series.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Klay Thompson knocked down a three-pointer from the right wing with 1:07 remaining, giving Golden State a 10-point cushion at 106-96. The Warriors had built a lead of as many as 24 points in the second half, but the Pelicans put together a surge that drew them within striking distance.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Anthony Davis wrapped up his third NBA season in fitting fashion individually, putting up 36 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. With the Pelicans down to their final loss, Davis came out aggressively from the get-go, scoring 11 first-quarter points and totaling 19 by halftime. One of the NBA’s most efficient players shot 14 of 20 from the field and was 8-for-9 from the foul line. His 36 points were tied for his sixth-highest scoring game of 2014-15.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME, PART II
Eric Gordon capped his healthiest campaign with New Orleans by playing perhaps his finest game. Gordon netted 29 points, two shy of his season-best of 31, while handing out five assists. Like Davis, Gordon tallied 19 first-half points, helping prevent the Warriors from running away with it prior to intermission. Overall, Gordon went 12-for-21 from the field, sinking three three-pointers.
PELICANS UNSUNG CONTRIBUTOR
Dante Cunningham was a major catalyst for New Orleans during its fourth-quarter surge, making hustle plays, hitting jumpers and grabbing rebounds, sometimes all on the same possession. Cunningham, the first of three excellent in-season additions by Dell Demps, packed 10 points, eight rebounds, two assists and one block into his 26 minutes of action.
QUOTES TO NOTE
“The experiences from this year have been great, crazy and amazing. Losing big games, being able to bounce back from that, through adversity with injuries and things of that nature. We still surpassed our goal. It’s definitely something to build off of.” – Jrue Holiday on the Pelicans’ 2014-15 season
“We made a lot of progress this year, as far as record, making the playoffs. Batting the No. 1 team in the league. That’s why next year, who knows how good we’re going to be? I think this is going to be the (minimum) of what we do. We could be a really good team. The only way you can better is for guys to stick together, stick around and build together.” – Eric Gordon on the Pelicans’ big picture
“(The NBA playoffs are) a lot tougher. In NCAA, it’s one (loss) and out. In FIBA, it’s one and out. In the NBA, you’ve got to beat a team four times. That’s very tough to do. I think that’s the biggest difference, which makes this whole level tough. (The other team has) guys who know you inside and out, and you’ve got to try to produce every night. That’s the toughest thing. When you’ve got to beat a team four times, it’s very tough.” – Anthony Davis on the difficulty of the NBA playoffs compared to the other levels where he has won big
“No matter what the situation is, our guys can’t give in. They can’t give in around me. Dante and Anthony tonight were unreal at our bench huddles. Dante laid into the team how we need to compete and that we have a chance to win this game, and AD was AD. For a 22-year-old, his leadership quality is unlike anybody I’ve been around at his age. A lot of it came from those guys, some from me, and a ton came from our fans.” – Monty Williams on the Pelicans’ fight to stay Game 4 in the second half
“I said I am really glad not to have to go against you anymore. He is an amazing player and he causes problems at both ends – all over the floor… Offensively, you can see it all starting to click for him. The guy will be the MVP within the next few years.” – Warriors Coach Steve Kerr on Anthony Davis
“You see what that team is, fully healthy, and they were really, really tough. We were fortunate as you guys know, to sweep. The first three games all came down to the wire and I thought tonight was our best effort of the series.” – Steve Kerr on the Pelicans and the close nature of most of the series
BY THE NUMBERS
11: Improvement in wins by the Pelicans compared to last season, the third straight year they’ve increased their victory total.
8.0: Golden State average margin of victory in the series. The Warriors won by 10, 7, 4 and 11 points.
54.2-22.7: Warriors three-point percentage in Game 4 vs. the Pelicans’ rate in the same category. Golden State may be close to unbeatable when it goes 13-for-24 or better from beyond the arc.
#TAKEFLIGHT QUESTION OF THE NIGHT
What were your favorite aspects of the Pelicans’ season and what will be biggest memories?
From @LSUFAN869: The five straight wins when AD, Ryan, and then Tyreke went down with injuries!!
From @twittmanola: MVP AD definitely stepped up his game. The team figured out how to win. And more importantly they never really gave up.
From @prince_217: With important players constantly going down, the team still finding a way to put together wins.
From @SteadyLosing: And they were written off probably 4-5 times in the regular season alone
From @ItsNevaTooSoon: that 21-1 run spanning the first and second quarters of the Spurs game because the atmosphere was electric
From @JackEpstein2: Stopping Atlanta’s win streak
From @creolelad2009: Anthony Davis. This kid is a legend in the making.