As the game wore on, the theory was proven right.
Curry's performance had indeed drawn the Pelicans' defense toward him.
When he nailed another deep three from two steps beyond the arc with seven minutes gone in the first quarter, the Pelicans had no choice but to call a timeout and adjust their defensive strategy.
Worse, even after the timeout, they still couldn't limit the Warriors' offense the way they usually did.
With Curry leading the way, Golden State's free-flowing offense had fully opened up.
As the game continued, Klay Thompson started hitting threes, Andrew Wiggins began drawing fouls, and even Otto Porter was able to feast comfortably under the basket.
Once everything started clicking, the Golden State Warriors' Offensive Efficiency exploded. In just a quarter and a half, they had the Pelicans on the verge of collapse.
By halftime, the score had become 68–55.
New Orleans trailed by 13.
At least they had made it to halftime, giving them a chance to rest and regroup, and to get themselves back into game shape.
At least the game wasn't over.
At least they still had 24 minutes to make up the deficit.
Before long, the Second Half began.
The New Orleans Pelicans launched a fierce comeback.
Jimmy Butler began relentlessly seeking mismatches, hunting Curry or Poole, and getting very good results against them.
JB's 12-point outburst in the quarter helped the Pelicans cut the deficit back to single digits. It also forced Curry to expend a great deal of energy on defense.
The bad news was that once the game entered the Fourth Quarter, Kerr proactively adjusted his strategy. The Warriors began switching early, using soft help from the interior and double-teaming the ball handler to counter Butler's strategy of targeting Curry. On offense, Green also increased his two-man