The NBA regular season continues, and the West ushers in a strong and weak confrontation, with the Pelicans sitting at home to meet the Warriors.
Before the game began, the situation between the two teams was very different, and although the Warriors lost to the Lone Ranger in the last unexpected game, the team still occupied the first place in the league with its proud performance at the beginning of the season.
On the other hand, the Pelicans are plagued by injuries, and Zion is caught in the public opinion storm of out-of-control body management, and the record is only second to last in the West.
Although Curry, Dream and Anderson are all absent from the game due to injury problems, the Warriors still have an absolute advantage in terms of lineup thickness.
As soon as the game began, the Warriors also changed the slump of the previous game under the leadership of Wiggins, quickly controlled the situation on the court, the Pelicans were extremely slow and hot, scoring only 16 points in a single quarter, giving the Warriors a 6-point lead.
It wasn't until the middle of the second quarter that the situation on the court suddenly changed, and after the Warriors established an 11-point lead, Golden State suddenly muted, scoring only 2 points in the remaining 4 minutes, which gave the Pelicans the opportunity to turn over, not only to close the point difference, but also to establish a 1-point lead at the end of the half.
Yi Bian fought again, and the Pelicans continued their first-half form and maintained a slight lead.
During the period, the Warriors completed the rebound more than once, but every time they wanted to regain the advantage, the Pelicans could hit a three-pointer, and the back and forth pull made the Warriors lose patience and impact, and the Pelicans instead entered the final quarter with a 3-point lead.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Pelicans drummed up and pulled the point difference to double digits in one breath, and although the Warriors played a 7-0 attack wave at a critical moment, once replaying the suspense of the game, the Pelicans finally beat the Warriors 101-96 with a solid free throw.
Among them, Ingram is undoubtedly the biggest contributor to the Pelicans' completion of the big upset, after the Pelicans adjusted their role positioning and put Walker on the bench, Ingram got better offensive space and opportunities.
In this game, Ingram was in excellent form, playing 35 minutes, shooting 12 of 20, and bombed 32 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists.
Even though the Warriors adopted a targeted defense against Ingram, they still couldn't restrain him from putting the ball into the basket.
It is worth mentioning that this is not only a big upset that the penultimate in the West has overturned the first place in the league, but also the first time the Warriors have suffered consecutive defeats this season.
After suffering two consecutive defeats, the Warriors' record further declined, and they were once again overtaken by the Suns behind them, giving up the first place in the league.
Through this game, the Warriors, who lack the core, also exposed the problems of some players, as well as the team's current predicament.
First of all, in the absence of Curry and Dream, Poole and Wiggins did not carry the banner, causing the Warriors to have to change their playing style on the offensive end, further leading to a decline in the team's offensive efficiency.
Poole's performance was the worst, with 3-of-14 shooting, 11 points, 5 assists and 3 steals, 10 of which were scored in the final minute, after he had been in a lost state until the last minute, but it was too late.
Wiggins also didn't meet expectations, shooting 7-of-17 from the field and shooting just 1-of-6 from three-point range, with 21 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocks.
Coupled with Curry's inaccurate performance in the last game, it is not difficult to see that since the beginning of the game, the team has been tired in order to maintain the first place in the league.
Therefore, the team's overtake by the Suns is not necessarily a bad thing, but it may make the Warriors coach put down his psychological fatigue.
It is often much better to be the second to catch up with the first than to be the second to catch up, at least at the psychological level, and the return of Clay and Wiseman is imminent, I believe the Warriors will quickly get out of the current short-term predicament.