The two main defensive cogs for both teams, Anthony Davis (chest contusion) of the New Orleans Pelicans and Andrew Bogut (knee tendinitis) of the Golden State Warriors, were kept out of this one. Golden State's only other real big bodied defensive presence is Festus Ezeli, but his knack for the game is nowhere near that of Bogut's.
Without Davis, New Orleans was without their only post scorer as Ryan Anderson, who started in his place, is more of a jump shooter rather than post scorer. Their starting center, Omer Asik, is not much of an offensive threat from inside or outside. The team relied heavily on the starting guards, Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday, to carry the offense as well as try to hold off arguably the best backcourt in the league in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Their eyes lit up when they stepped on the court, and Andrew Bogut wasn't out there as they put together many successful drives to the basket right out of the gate. Holiday dropped in 10 points while Evans added nine points in the first quarter.
Harrison Barnes took a hard elbow to the face in the first minute of the second quarter from Dante Cunningham but after receiving two stitches in his inner lip, he was able to return in the second half.
Andre Iguodala filled in admirably while Barnes was out, scoring 14 of his total 20 points in the first half.
Golden State looked fresh and energized to start the game, especially Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, as they scored 13 and 7 respectively in the first quarter. At the end of the first half, Golden State was looking at a 60-51 lead.
The second half had quite a different feel than the first. It seemed as though Golden State was somewhat worn out after playing a game in Dallas yesterday and having to travel and play the second game of a back-to-back in New Orleans.
New Orleans caught fire, scoring 38 points in third quarter and knotting the game up at 89 through three quarters.
At the 4:16 mark in the fourth quarter, when New Orleans took a 107-99 lead, it seemed as though they had control of the game and were on their way to ending Golden State's amazing 15-game winning streak, but that was not the case. Golden State stormed back in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 111 and force overtime.
In overtime, Golden State put the ball in Stephen Curry's hands. He delivered by taking control of the game, with eight points in the extra period while leading his team to a 128-122 victory. He further solidified the notion that he is one of the most, if not THE most, clutch player in the NBA.
We are currently witnessing a potentially historic season, as Golden State pushed their current winning streak to 16 games and improved to 21-2 overall on the season.
New Orleans dropped to 11-12 on the season, but they showed that they have more talent on the team than just Anthony Davis, and they will be a force in the Western Conference in the near future.
Golden State looks to add on to their 16-game winning streak on Tuesday when they take on an impressive Memphis Grizzlies team. New Orleans will look to bounce back on Tuesday against the Utah Jazz.