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