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West Conf. Semis - Game 5: New Orleans Pelicans 104-113 Golden State Warriors - 5 Talking Points

New Orleans Pelicans v Golden State Warriors - Game Five
KD and Draymond Green

For a fourth straight year, the Golden State Warriors are headed to the Western Conference Finals. Last year, they went 8-0 en route to reaching that stage and this year, they aren't far off only dropping one game in each round (8-2).

Often times your ability to eliminate teams at the first opportunity available displays your hunger and execution level. In Game 5 against the New Orleans Pelicans, it was the visitors that had their backs against the wall, being down 1-3, but the Warriors needed to play as the hungrier team to win and close out this series.

And they did just that. Starting the death line-up once again, it wasn't a blowout from the beginning like in Game 4 but the defending champs had control all through the game.

Here are the 5 biggest takeaways from the game:

#5 Scorching start to the third quarter for the Warriors

New Orleans Pelicans v Golden State Warriors - Game Five
Stephen Curry reacts after knocking down a 3.

Over the last couple of seasons, the Warriors have gotten into the habit of winning games coming out of the locker room in the third quarter. In the 2017-18 regular season, their net rating in the third quarter is a +18.5, easily the best with the second-ranked team being the Denver Nuggets with a +7.8.

On Tuesday night, they outscored the Pelicans 36-19 in the third period. The Pelicans trimmed the difference to just 17 with a late quarter push but over the first 7 minutes of the quarter, Golden State outscored them 27-6.

For the first 5:35 of these seven minutes, the Warriors' death line-up was on the court. Stephen Curry (11) and Kevin Durant (8) combined for 19 of the 27 points. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green combined for other 8 points.

What looked like a competitive 3-point game at halftime, turned into a blowout really early into the third quarter.

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