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Curry, Warriors sweep Pelicans, advance to West semis

Apr 26, 2015 - 3:36 AM New Orleans, LA (SportsNetwork.com) - The Golden State Warriors wouldn't need a monumental comeback to secure a series sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night.

Instead, they were the ones who brought a healthy, double-digit lead into the final quarter before advancing to the next round.

Stephen Curry posted 39 points, nine assists and eight rebounds as the Warriors earned a 109-98 series-clinching win over the Pelicans in the Western Conference quarterfinals.

"I'm proud of the way we played, the way we competed. Now we'll rest up and get ready for the next round," said Curry.

Golden State, which overcame a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter of its Game 3 win thanks to Curry's late heroics, achieved its first sweep of a seven-game series since winning the 1975 NBA Finals.

Klay Thompson deposited 25 points and Draymond Green netted 20 of his 22 points in the first half. Green also finished with 10 rebounds and eight assists for the top-seeded Warriors.

"First of all I want to congratulate Monty (Williams) and (the Pelicans). The team we saw this past week was not the one we saw in the regular season," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "They were really, really tough ... We were very fortunate to sweep."

Golden State will face the winner of the Portland-Memphis series in the Western Conference semifinals.

Pelicans star Anthony Davis contributed 36 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks and Eric Gordon chipped in 29 points in a losing effort.

"Our guys just fought all year long, and we say it all the time that life is not fair so don't expect it to be," coach Williams said. "And some of the shots Curry made were not fair."

New Orleans made its first three field goal attempts of the third quarter to cut its halftime deficit to nine. Then the Pelicans missed their next 11 shots as Golden State widened its lead.

Curry's triple followed Davis' dunk that kicked off a 18-3 run that gave the Warriors an 87-63 advantage. Davis knocked down a jumper with 2:20 left in the third that ended a near eight-minute drought without a made basket.

"It's tough to win a playoff game," Davis said of his first experience. "Overall, I think our team played well. Even when we were down 20 we still fought, both home and on the road."

The Warriors, who led 88-67 after three quarters, were forced to take a timeout early in the fourth after New Orleans scored the first nine points of the frame. Curry's 3 with under eight minutes to go pushed the margin back to 17, but the Pelicans followed with a 7-0 spurt that trimmed their deficit to 95-85.

It remained a 10-point spread with 3 1/2 minutes to play when Curry, reminiscent of Thursday night when he sent the game to overtime, converted a corner jumper over the outstretched arms of Davis for a 101-89 edge. The Warriors held on down the stretch.

"Obviously, Steph was Steph," Kerr said. "He was amazing."

The New Orleans faithful at Smoothie King Center did what they could to lift the spirits of the eighth-seeded Pelicans, but Golden State's first half performance deflated the atmosphere in the building.

"We felt good about how focused we were. To be honest, coach got into us at the end of shoot-around, because he didn't think we had a sense of urgency," Curry said.

Although the Pelicans converted half of their shots over the first 24 minutes, the Warriors shot at a 56.8 percent clip, protected the ball and had a large advantage from beyond the arc.

Golden State limited New Orleans to just two points over the final 3 1/2 minutes of the first and finished the quarter on a 10-2 run for a 31-24 edge. The Warriors committed three turnovers in the first half and fired in 9-of-14 3-point attempts, while the Pelicans made two 3-pointers total. Curry and Green carried the visitors into the locker room with a 67-54 lead at the break.

Game Notes

The Warriors won their only championship since moving to California in 1975 by sweeping the Washington Bullets in four games ... Davis became the fourth player in NBA history to average 30 points and 10 rebounds in his first four playoff games, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Bob McAdoo ... Golden State led by as many as 24 ... Thompson went 6-of-8 from beyond the arc, while the entire Pelicans team went 5-of-22 from 3-point range ... Ryan Anderson and Dante Cunningham each had 10 points in the loss.