Kevin Durant And The Warriors’ Death Lineup Completely Overwhelmed The Pelicans In Game 4

For the last few years, the Golden State Warriors have turned to a collection of five players when they’ve wanted to run teams off the floor. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Durant, and Draymond Green are commonly referred to as the team’s death lineup, forming one of the scariest five-man groups in the NBA.

But up until Sunday afternoon, that grouping had never started a game together. Steve Kerr had always kept it as his ace in the hole, the lineup he uses when he needs a trump card that overwhelms opponents up with their ball movement, offensive creativity, and frenetic defense.

That changed in Game 4 against the New Orleans Pelicans, as Kerr threw out his death lineup from the tip. The Warriors responded to this by opening up a 20-6 lead early on against the Pelicans, and despite their opponents scratching and clawing to make it a game in front of a partisan crowd in New Orleans, Golden State came out on top, 118-92.

The story of the game, besides the decision to go to the death lineup right away, was that Kevin Durant made it a point to remind everyone why he is the player with the strongest case for challenging LeBron James’ title as the best basketball player in the world. Durant was brilliant, scoring 38 points on 15-for-27 shooting with nine rebounds and five assists.

Durant was in a rhythm early, as the Warriors were able to get him the kind of comfortable midrange looks that are usually an indicator that Durant is going to have a big game.

When Durant can get into the flow of the game by hitting shots like these, there’s not much you can do. The Pelicans threw just about everyone at him, from Anthony Davis to Jrue Holiday, and Durant responded every time by hitting jumpers in his opponent’s eye. It makes it so Durant feels no qualms about attempting a shot like this, which is usually a recipe for disaster when a player is guarded by Davis.

The Pelican defense struggled for most of the game, which is a bit of a surprise, as it has three stout defenders (Davis, Holiday, Rajon Rondo) in their starting lineup. One game after putting the clamps on Golden State, New Orleans kept getting carved up. The Warriors shot 38 percent from the field in Game 3 and 48.4 percent from the field in Game 4.

Part of this is because teams get rightfully terrified when Durant is locked in, which opens things up for other players. But at times, the Warriors’ ball movement was too much for the Pelicans, as was the case on this possession where Curry had enough time before shooting a three to write a novel.

Another possession like this came in the second quarter, where New Orleans’ defense parted like the Red Sea and gave up a Quinn Cook layup. It was a 4-on-3 situation, and Holiday, E’Twaun Moore, and Nikola Mirotic had to stop Cook, Thompson, Durant, and Iguodala. Holiday thought he had help, but as it turns out, he did not.

Beyond the brilliance of Durant, Curry had 23 points, while Green did a little bit of everything, going for eight points, nine rebounds, nine assists, four steals, and a block. He also picked up his first technical foul of the postseason.

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As for the Pelicans, they just couldn’t get anything going against Golden State’s stout defense. New Orleans shot 36.4 percent from the field and 15.4 percent from three, which is a great way to lose when you’re playing against the Warriors. Davis led the team with 26 points and 12 boards, while Moore (20 points) and Holiday (19 points, seven rebounds, three assists) were the other major contributors.

Now facing a 3-1 deficit, New Orleans has to do one of the most difficult things in the NBA: Pick up a win at Oracle Arena. The Warriors haven’t lost at home this postseason, and haven’t lost a game on their court in the playoffs since the Cleveland Cavaliers beat them in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. The Pelicans have Davis, who is capable of doing the amazing, but it will take a Herculean effort in Game 5 to send things back to New Orleans, especially if the Warriors throw their death lineup out to start the game again.