OAKLAND – The ‘Hamptons 5′ would not let the Golden State Warriors go back to New Orleans, at least not until next season.
The Warriors used a dominating performance to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans 113-104 in Game 5 of their Western Conference Semifinals series at Oracle Arena on Tuesday night.
After a close first half, Golden State went on one of their classic runs and took control. The Warriors outscored New Orleans 36-19 in the third quarter and never had to worry about the Pelicans getting within single digits until the game was already in hand.
Stephen Curry had 28 points to lead the Warriors. Kevin Durant added 24 and Klay Thompson added 23 for Golden State, who advanced to their fourth consecutive Western Conference Finals with the win.
“We generated good shots early and they didn’t go in,” Durant said of the Warriors’ third quarter. “We were confident that if we continued to get those type of looks, they would eventually go in.”
Curry, Durant, and Thompson combined for 75 of Golden State’s 113 points on the night. Draymond Green finished the night with 19 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists.
“Nothing surprises me about him,” Curry said of Green. “The talent he has and the intensity he plays with is fun to watch.”
Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 34 points and 19 rebounds. Jrue Holiday rebounded from a poor shooting night to score 27 points and 11 assists.
“I was really proud of the guys for competing until the end,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. “It is not in our DNA to give up and we made some buckets. I was just proud of our guys for that.”
Golden State advances to play the top-seeded Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals beginning Monday night, a matchup many had been predicting since October. Houston won the season series 2-1, but the two sides never faced each other with fully healthy squads.
“There were guys missing in all three games,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It is a weird deal because we haven’t played them in so long. We know they are a good team and they’ll be ready. We’ll be ready for them.”
