From Charleston to Charlotte, from Charlotte to Atlanta, from Atlanta to Mobile, and from Mobile to New Orleans, our dream became a reality. We had made it to the Crescent City for what was sure to be a busy and jam packed weekend of sports. Everything was in place for us to cover the New Orleans Pelicans vs the defending champion Golden State Warriors. After making our way to the Smoothie King Center, and parking in the media parking lot, we headed into the arena to receive our credentials. To say that this organization rolls the red carpet out to the media would be an understatement. Everything that we needed to cover the game was laying at our fingertips. Stat sheets, inactives for the game, future opponents, quotes, you name it, it was there. Also sharing the “Pelicans Welcome” media guide with the great Craig Sager wasn’t too shabby either. After eating and reviewing our paperwork we made our way to the tunnel where the coaches would speak before the matchup.

Pregame: Golden State Warriors interim coach Luke Walton (yes, that Luke Walton, son of the great Bill Walton) would speak first. Luke talked about how last season wasn’t going to be a “championship hangover” that would show up this season. He said “we have just got to stay focused on the task at hand,” being 2-0 “meant nothing tonight”. It was a rather short interview with Walton. Making our way over next to the Pelicans head coach, Alvin Gentry, he spoke highly about Coach Walton saying that “Luke isn’t far removed from being a player in this league, so the players really get behind him, and he has a bright future as a head coach in this league” After a brief pre-game interview, Gentry headed back into the locker room to get his team ready to play against one of the best teams the NBA has to offer, having already lost to them once in their first regular season match-up. The pre-game interviews wrapped up, and it was time to get to our court-side seats to cover the game. Complete with our tags on the table specifying who we were representing, and our monitor which had real time box score info and stats on it, it was game-time.

Game-Time: The stars were out in the arena on this night. The talent level on the floor would prove to be an equal task for each team to try and execute better to come out with the win. After one high scoring quarter of play the Warriors would have the lead 31-28. The second quarter featured the Pelicans making some much needed adjustments and taking a 65-64 lead going into halftime, and then the third quarter happened.  In case you have been living under a rock, or just plain do not follow sports, there is a guy by the name of Steph Curry who can shoot the basketball pretty well (sarcasm). Curry, against the Pelicans, a few nights prior, scored 24 of the team’s 35 points in the first quarter. The third quarter of tonight’s game would prove to be another work of art. Curry caught fire in the third scoring 28 of the team’s 40 points. To the average eye these shots that Curry throws up look like garbage, or they may look like he’s throwing up a prayer, but these are in fact not luck. These are skilled shots that he takes everyday. These are the shots that he feels comfortable taking against any opponent. As the old cliche states “If he’s on your team, you love him. If not, you hate him” not as a person, but as a player that can put up this type of a performance every game. By the time the final buzzer went off the Warriors had beaten the Pelicans 134-120. Anthony Davis did his part scoring 26 points and pulling down 15 rebounds. A couple bright spots that stood out for the Pelicans were the points in the paint. The Pelicans had a plus 20 advantage in this department outscoring the Warriors 56-36. Another being the second chance points, outscoring the Warriors 19-1. The Warriors, as you would expect, had the advantage in fast break points 24-9. On this particular night it was just too much Curry, and too many mental lapses for the Pelicans to get their first win on the season, and hand Golden State their first loss on the year. After the game we made our way into the locker room for post game interviews. The Pelicans were visibly not happy with their performance, and rightfully so.

Post-game: Ryan Anderson spoke to us after the game saying that “We don’t want to make excuses. We have the talent on this team even though we aren’t completely healthy right now”. Eric Gordon was quoted saying that “We play on the offensive side of the ball as good as anyone. We just have to be consistent.” And finally Anthony Davis gave his thoughts to us after the game. Davis said “We gotta do a better job defensively once again. We gotta get acclimated and figure this out.” When asked about playing the defending champs twice in the first three games after being swept by them in the playoffs last year Davis responded “I’m glad we did that, so we know what we have to do going forward.”

In Closing: We could not have picked a better, more competitive game to attend. I want to first of all thank Neal Stone and Justin Lavender for coming on board and helping out with this crazy idea and vision I have for this site. The content that you guys provide me with is deeply appreciated. Finally, Matt Ryan, the Director Of Basketball Communications for the New Orleans Pelicans. We thank you for this opportunity that you have provided us with and we’ll always remember our first time in the Crescent City covering the New Orleans Pelicans. Your professionalism toward us and the deep southern hospitality is unmatched. Again we thank you and look forward to seeing you again soon!

Key Stats: Pelicans- Anthony Davis 26 points, 15 rebounds, 37 min played

Jrue Holiday 22 points, 6 assist, 27 min played

Ryan Anderson 19 points, 7 rebounds, 30 min played

Warriors– Steph Curry 53 points, 9 assist, 35 min played

Draymond Green 21 points, 6 rebounds, 37 min played

 

Written By: Joshua Petry

For more Blogs visit:https://sportsnerdz.com/blogs/

*This Blog Contains Affiliate Links*