Warriors take 2-0 lead on Pelicans in Stephen Curry’s return

In a night where it felt like the Pelicans did absolutely everything they could to steal a game in Golden State, the Warriors still dominated when in mattered and crushed any chance of that becoming a reality. That’s now 14-straight wins for the Warriors at home and they’re 6-0 in these playoffs.

The Pelicans pace was unbelievable, putting up 105 shots on the night. It’s nearly impossible to pace with these Warriors and the Pelicans did it. But it still wasn’t enough. No one plays Warriors basketball like the Warriors do, especially when Steph Curry is back.

Curry finished the night with 28 points in 27 minutes, leaving him at a +26 for his night coming off the bench. Kevin Durant put in 29 points of his own while Draymond Green had 20.

For New Orleans, it was another solid night from Anthony Davis who finished with 25 points and 15 rebounds. Jrue Holiday had 24 points and Rajon Rondo had 22 points and 12 assists.

That was a shootout. A great night for both teams, but one team has Steph Curry and the other doesn’t.

Just when you think it’s over, we get ANOTHER run. This time it’s a 7-0 run by the Pelicans and this game still has a bit of life.

The Warriors are on an 11-0 run and there really is nothing the Pelicans can do. They’ve hung out and showed fight for this entire game but there is only you can so much you can do against Golden State when they’re firing on all cylinders.

This game continues to be furious and continues to stay close.

This has been a game of runs. The Pelicans went on a 13-2 run to take their own lead, but not before the Warriors jumped back out in front.

An E’Twaun Moore three-pointer for the Pelicans stops a 10-0 run by the Warriors dating back to the first half.

What a wild first half and a feverish pace for both teams. The crazy back and forth first half was capped off with a ridiculous Klay Thompson buzzer beater.

Jrue Holiday has 15 points and Anthony Davis has 14 points for the Pelicans. Steph Curry leads the way with 12 for Golden State.

The Warriors are still battling back with a Pelicans team that just won’t let up. Curry leads all Warriors scorers with 12.

The Warriors are still down but another long three from Curry pushes them closer.

The Pelicans came out firing in the first quarter. Rondo and Jrue Holiday lead all Pelican’s scorers so far.

Probably the biggest moment in the game came when Stephen Curry returned to action with just over 4 minutes left in the first. His first possession back after month, he hit a three pointer off an assist from Draymond Green.

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Game 2 of the Golden State Warriors and New Orleans Pelicans second-round series could get even uglier than the 22-point Game 1 blowout win for Steve Kerr’s team. That’s because Stephen Curry is set to make his 2018 NBA playoffs debut, and he’s doing so without a minutes restriction.

The Warriors held all three of the Pelicans stars in check in Game 1: Anthony Davis had just 21 points on 20 shots, Jrue Holiday had 11 points on 14 shots, and Rajon Rondo’s near-triple-double came on 40 percent shooting. New Orleans can’t afford a night like that without Curry, and it’ll get ugly if it repeats with him back in uniform for Golden State.

If everything goes as planned for Golden State, this is a nice opportunity to get Curry back in rhythm for the rest of the postseason. He hasn’t stepped on the court since March 23, when he suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his knee, and before that hadn’t played since March 8. Golden State’s figured out how to live without him so far, but things will only get tougher as the postseason progresses.

“He’ll want to get his legs underneath him,’’ Kerr said, according to ESPN. “So we’ll try to find that balance between being cautious and letting him go a little bit.’’

Date: May 1

Where: Oracle Arena, Oakland

Time: 10:30 p.m. ET

TV: TNT