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Of course it was an offensive rebound, and of course it was Steph Curry.
Spurred by a furious comeback late in the fourth quarter, the Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans 123-119 (OT) on Thursday night to go up 3-0 in the teams’ first-round series.
The initial 42 minutes of the Pelicans’ first home playoff game of the Anthony Davis era went exactly as planned. The Brow was dominating on both ends; Ryan Anderson was raining shots from all over the floor; and Monty Williams’ ultra-aggressive defense had the league’s most dangerous attack uncomfortable.
But no lead is safe against the Warriors. Not when Golden State goes small, not when it’s finally ready to seize the moment, and not when Curry shoots like the world knows he can.
The ‘Dubs completed a comeback from 20 points down on Curry’s wild game-tying shot with 2.8 seconds remaining in regulation. Overtime was hotly contested from there, but New Orleans trailed from the outset after Curry opened the extra session by draining another triple and Andrew Bogut drew an Anthony Davis charge on the other end.
The Pelicans’ own negligence contributed to their shocking collapse. Steve Kerr’s team collected seven offensive rebounds between the 3:34 mark of the final stanza and its end, making up 10 points in the process. The biggest one, of course, went to Marreese Speights, who corralled Curry’s initial miss on the Warriors’ last possession and quickly shuffled it back to him and let the MVP candidate play hero.
Splash.
New Orleans is culpable here. They were owned on the offensive glass when it mattered most, forgot about Davis in crunch-time, and made the puzzling decision not to foul Curry up three points with the fourth quarter clock under 10 seconds.
This is a bad loss. But it’s a better win.
And if Golden State makes good on their 67-win regular season to hoist a Larry O’Brien Trophy in two months, this victory – and Curry’s instant classic shot – will be one the NBA world remembers forever.
