Pelicans call out ESPN experts after everyone picked the Warriors to advance

The decision came down to the fact that Curry has only played one 5-on-5 contact scrimmage since he sprained his left MCL in a March 23 win over Atlanta.

After Saturday, the Warriors will play Game 2 in Oakland on Tuesday, which will precede Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 next Sunday in New Orleans.

Golden State’s two-time MVP Stephen Curry was initially listed as questionable, but was later ruled out for the Saturday opener.

After the win, Thompson explained the advantage that Oracle Arena’s raucous environment brings the Warriors. Even if he gets on the court his minutes are likely to be severly limited.

The sixth-seeded Pelicans made easy work of the third-seeded Blazers, despite the fact that Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic posed a formidable threat. The Warriors have no answer for Davis, who is the best big man in the league.

“I’ve been blessed to have this platform and I want to use it to affect the world positively”, Curry said. Durant and Thompson combined for 53 points on the night, 36 of which came in a first half that stayed close for a while but came bursting apart as the Warriors went on a 25-2 run toward the end of the second quarter and never looked back.

There’s no reason for Davis and the Pelicans to lack confidence, of course.

They aren’t playing a team that they can punk opposing guards with aggressive double teams off screens, as the Pelicans did in their first-round sweep of the Trail Blazers. “I don’t have any pain with doing the things that I’ve been doing”.

That is an improbable, impossible task because the Pelicans don’t have as many proven weapons.

So can Davis and Holiday keep their foot on the gas against Golden State? He averaged 26.4 points, 6.1 assists and 5.1 rebounds during the regular season playing in 51 games. But Holiday and Rondo just played a great backcourt in Damian Lillard and C.J. He’s basically turned himself into a sweeter shooting version Kawhi Leonard. Although they’re the second seed in the West, they’re the defending champions and are still the team to beat.

It’s going to be interesting to see if the Pelicans can have the same kind of success as they have thus far in the playoffs. After Davis went off in the Pels opening round series against Portland, Shea Serrano quipped that he hoped this was a bear-tastes-human-blood situation; After the first game against Golden State, it’s a deer-in-headlights-life-flashing-before-eyes situation. That’s a testament to just how many interesting angles and story lines there are around this series. We’re going to be better defensively from the standpoint of not having breakdowns. It still going to be extremely fun to watch two of the three or four best players in the National Basketball Association battle for a couple weeks.