Saturday afternoon in Oracle Arena was a rough "Welcome to the NBA Playoffs" moment for Anthony Davis, Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans, who were all playing in their first ever professional playoff series. The beginning of the game certainly seemed to be a coming of age moment for these players, who looked as if they were battling some nerves.
The Golden State Warriors held New Orleans to 13 first-quarter points, the fewest the Warriors have allowed in a playoff first quarter in the Shot Clock Era and the fewest in any playoff quarter since Game 6 of the 1975 Western Conference Finals vs. Chicago (May 11, 1975), when the Bulls scored 12 points in the fourth quarter.
"I think that it's human nature for some of our guys who are playing in the playoffs for the first time to have that," Coach Monty Williams said. "But we didn't wait until the film session tomorrow to settle down. I thought we settled down at halftime and started playing better basketball. I expected that. I didn't expect it to lead to a 13âpoint first quarter and giving up 28, but I think that's natural."
After a rough beginning, the young Pelicans indeed grew stronger and more confident as the game went on.
1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter
Pelicans 13 28 25 33
Warriors 28 31 25 22
The Pelicans ended up losing Game #1 by a core of 106-99, but they gained some valuable experience and confidence in how they finished the game. The Warriors led by as many as 25 points in the third frame before the Pelicans rallied to end the game within seven points, outscoring the Warriors 33-22 in the fourth.
"I think the whole team was nervous," Anthony Davis said. "This is our first time as a unit in the playoffs, and our pace was good. We were moving fast, but our minds were moving fast as well. So we've got to learn how to play fast, but have our minds move slow. We did that in the second half. We were able to be effective and get back in the game."
Davis' play, as well as the team's overall performance grew stronger as the game went on.
"He missed some buckets early that he typically doesn't miss," Williams said. "Tyreke went to the basket one time and missed the layâup. AD had a followâup dunk and it came out of his hands. I was like, 'That's not AD. He typically finishes that.' So second half, he figured some things out. I don't want to talk about it now, because I don't want to give anything away. But I thought not that he wasn't calm, but I thought he settled into what the game was like and what they were taking away and what he could do. We'll look at the film tomorrow so he can be better."
He may be a collegiate national champion, but Davis admits there were butterflies going into his first NBA playoff game, an experience he's worked to participate in for 3 seasons. The All Star says he got comfortable second half.
"Mostly after halftime," Davis said. "The playoffs are so different. You don't get a lot of the calls you normally get. It's a lot more physical. So there is a lot of adjusting that you have to do. Coming out of halftime, I just tried to be aggressive. We made adjustments offensively. My teammates made a great job getting me the ball where I needed to score, and it all just looked so fluent out there. It was a lot easier not just for myself, but for my teammates as well. Out of halftime, we all just settled down and started playing our style of basketball and being confident in each other."
MVP front-runner Steph Curry noticed the change in Davis second half and can personally relate.
"He got comfortable (after halftime)," Curry said. "We want to obviously make a couple of adjustments with how aggressive he was in the second half. But everybody goes through those first half nerves and jitters in the playoffs. I remember my first game in Denver two years ago. It was kind of a similar situation, antsy, and anxious, ready to get out there and get a feel for what it's like, and then you kind of settle in. I know there are guys on our team that went through that same experience. Obviously, AD changed the game in the fourth quarter with the way he played, and we're going to have to deal with that all series. That's why it's going to be tough. To win four games, we're going to have to focus and lock in."
The good news for New Orleans fans, the Pelicans respond to a defeat well historically this season. New Orleans was 26-11 (.703) following a loss in the regular season, the third-best record in the NBA in 2014-15.
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