Pelicans vs. Warriors Game 2 final score: 3 things we learned from Golden State’s hard-fought win

The Warriors protected their home court in the first two games of their series against the Pelicans and will travel to New Orleans with a 2-0 lead following a 97-87 win in Game 2. The Pelicans fared better than many expected against the best team in the league but couldn't get the win they needed to increase their chances of advancing. Great performances by Anthony Davis and Eric Gordon weren't enough to trump the 48 combined points Golden State got from the Splash Brothers, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, and the lift they got from key role players.

The Pelicans proved in Game 1 that they were not just happy to be in the postseason but hungry to win as well. The start of Game 2 only confirmed that predisposition, as New Orleans took the lead, withstood a Golden State charge and finished the first quarter ahead by 11. The starters, with Davis and Gordon leading the way, outplayed the Warriors badly.

When the benches checked in, however, the Warriors' depth was too much for the Pelicans to handle. Leandro Barbosa and Marreese Speights kept Golden State close despite great play by Norris Cole. When the Golden State starters checked in, they were within striking distance. Against such a potent offense, the seven-point lead the Pelicans had can vanish quick in a flurry of three-pointers. That's exactly what happened, as consecutive Thompson bombs tied the game. At the half, the Warriors had come all the way back and led by three.

A lot of teams would have folded when the Golden State got a double-digit lead in the third quarter. Not the Pelicans. They are a young and inexperienced but don't quit. They strung together a run of their own and stayed close. Davis and Tyreke Evans provided the scoring and the defense held the Warriors to 28 percent for the quarter. The Warriors were still ahead going to the final period but the Pelicans gave themselves a chance to steal the game.

Ultimately, their resilience was futile. The Warriors always had an answer for every mini run New Orleans went on. Draymond Green did a fantastic job on a fatigued Davis and Thompson went on a scoring binge to create separation. Curry put the icing on the cake with a terrific feed to Bogut that sealed the win.

The Warriors' bench is good defensively but lacks that pure scorer many teams like to sub in when the stars rest. The closest thing to it they have is former Sixth Man of the Year Leandro Barbosa but he's past his prime. On Monday he turned back the clock, giving the Warriors a much needed boost in the scoring department, finishing with 12 points in 15 minutes.

In his time with the Clippers, Eric Gordon was the best young shooting guard in the league. When he was traded to New Orleans injuries derailed his career and the Pelicans' decision to match a max offer sheet from the Suns started to seem like a mistake. Gordon has never looked like a star in the past three years.

Omer Asik was acquired from the Rockets so Davis could play power forward instead of banging bodies with bigger centers inside. It worked during the regular season, as the Pelicans were better on defense when the two shared the court. In this series, however, Asik has been a disaster. He's fumbling passes, cramping the spacing and is not doing a good enough job on defense to offset his poor offensive performance.

Starting Dante Cunningham would force Davis to guard Bogut, which could take its toll. The Brow is also prone to mental mistakes on defense when he's the only big. Even so, it might be the best shot the Pelicans have of stretching the Warriors' defense enough to score inside. The bench could also use Asik's defense, especially when Davis sits. Monty Williams would surely like to stick with the lineup he used throughout the season but a change might be necessary.