Roll to fourth straight W. Conference Finals 4-1
By Felicia D. Purcell
Martinez News-Gazette
Coming into Tuesday;s Western Conference Semi-Final Game 5 the Warriors were 34-5 at home, a record that began in 2015. A win would tie them with the 1990-91 Chicago Bulls record of 35-5 and 15 straight home wins.
They would indeed tie that record and remain undefeated in the postseason at home by sending the Pelicans fishing 113-104. As head coach Steve Kerr said, Steph Curry is ‘Back to being Steph’ scoring 28 points, Kevin Durant finished with 24 and Klay Thompson had 23 points.
However, it was the play of Draymond Green that had his teammates showering him with praise in the postgame press conference by becoming the first Warriors player in history to average a triple -double in the playoffs.
“Draymond, when Draymond is locked in on the small things, that just – his game just explodes,” said Kevin Durant. “Obviously the triple-doubles look great on the stats sheet but I think Draymond enjoyed the small things that equal to a win that people don’t really see on the stats sheet.”
The Warriors led by as much as 26 in the game but saw their lead dwindle to 7 with a little over two-minutes left in the game with Green scoring 4 of the final 9 points.
For the first time in the Steve Kerr era the Warriors do not have home court advantage after finishing the season second to first place Houston.
It is the match-up many have been waiting for as both teams are a high-powered offense that shoots a lot of three-pointers.
Game 1 of the Conference Finals is Monday, May 14th at 6 p.m. on TNT. They will play Game 3 at ORACLE Arena on Sunday, May 20th at 5 p.m. on TNT.
Photos by Terrell Lloyd Martinez News-Gazette
