ANTHONY Davis had 33 points, 18 rebounds and four steals, and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated Golden State 119-100 on Friday night to trim the Warriors’ series lead to 2-1.
Davis was particularly dominant around the basket, scoring numerous times on dunks of the driving, put-back or alley-oop variety, and the Pelicans outscored the Warriors 54-36 in the paint.
Jrue Holiday scored 21 for New Orleans, Ian Clark added 18 points against his former club. As in Game 2, Rajon Rondo once again had a heated exchange with Warriors forward Draymond Green. This time, however, Rondo backed it up with 21 assists.
“He came out aggressive. He set the tone on both ends of the floor,” Rondo said. “He attacked the rim strong tonight.”Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry added that he “felt real good” during a timeout when he heard Davis say, “We’re not losing this game.”
“Our mindset is to go out there and play, do what we’re supposed to do, follow the game plan and whatever results happen, happen,” Davis said. “We followed the game plan to a tee.”
Klay Thompson scored 26 for Golden State, but missed 13 of 22 shots. Stephen Curry, in his second game back after a sprained knee sidelined him more than a month, missed 13 of 19 shots and finished with 19 points. Kevin Durant scored 22 points for the Warriors, who never led by more than a single point.
Golden State shot uncharacteristically poorly from outside, missing 22 of 31 3-point attempts and finishing at 38 percent shooting (35 of 92) overall.
HOUSTON 113,
UTAH 92,
Salt Lake City –– When Houston’s offense gets going, the Rockets are nearly impossible to beat.
James Harden had 25 points and 12 assists to lead Houston to a 113-92 win over Utah in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinals series on Friday night.
Eric Gordon added 25 points and Chris Paul had 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Rockets. Houston beat Utah in Salt Lake City for the third time this season to take a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 is on Sunday.
The Rockets attacked the Jazz everywhere en route to rolling up 70 points before halftime. When Utah drove Houston off the perimeter, it yielded repeated slashes to the rim for layups. When the Jazz dropped back in to shore up the interior, the Rockets came up with well-timed 3-pointers to keep the heat on.
The Rockets attacked the Jazz everywhere en route to rolling up 70 points before halftime. When Utah drove Houston off the perimeter, it yielded repeated slashes to the rim for layups. When the Jazz dropped back in to shore up the interior, the Rockets came up with well-timed 3-pointers to keep the heat on.