NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – If you think Thursday night’s Golden State overtime win over the Pelicans was a classic, I think you are right, in one respect.
It was a classic collapse by the Pelicans.
Sure, they were playing the best team in basketball. And, with superstar guard Steph Curry, all comebacks are possible.
But, this one never should have happened.
What happened?
The Pelicans had a four-point lead with under one minute to play.
The Pelicans led by 5 with 17.4 seconds to play.
New Orleans fashioned a good ole fashion total collapse.
With 50 seconds to play, the Pelicans didn’t get the ball into the hands of Anthony Davis. They settled instead for a contested three out of the right corner that Eric Gordon missed.
Move forward 30 seconds. Jrue Holiday made two free throws to give New Orleans a 107-102 lead.
The Warriors called a timeout. They got the ball to Curry, who head faked Holiday and made a wide open three pointer.
With 9.6 seconds to play, Anthony Davis was fouled and made one of the two free throws.
So, timeout Golden State. Pelicans lead 108-105.
When the Warriors inbounded to Curry, Pelicans forward Quincy Pondexter had ample chance to foul Curry and send him to the free-throw line to shoot two.
Instead, Curry shot a three and missed. Marreese Speights then beat both Anthony Davis and Tyreke Evans to the loose ball.
He passed to Curry who nailed the tying three-point shot out of the left corner.
Why didn’t the Pelicans foul?
“Like I said we didn’t execute the game plan,” said head coach Monty Williams. “We were supposed to foul… They shouldn’t have even had that shot take place.”
What’s amazing is that Curry should have a chance to shoot a free throw after draining the three. He was knocked to the floor by Anthony Davis.
There was no call.
“He’s fearless, he wants every big shot,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr. “That’s why he’s Steph Curry.”
The Warriors will soon be moving on, the Pelicans season will soon end.
Will this game three collapse have any lingering effects on the Pelicans organization?
Fair or not, when most look back on this season, the Pelicans making the playoffs may get buried by a very bad fourth quarter on a Thursday night in the playoffs.