The Golden State Warriors lost to the New Orleans Pelicans 114-109 on Friday night, losing control of their own destiny with play-in seeding. Now 45-36 on the year, the Warriors will need the Lakers and Kings to lose again to avoid returning to the 10th seed in the Western Conference.
The Warriors rested Draymond Green and Klay Thompson in Thursday night’s win over the Blazers. However, both Gary Payton II and Jonathan Kuminga were sidelined on Friday, putting pressure on the veterans to step up.
The Warriors jumped out to a strong start, taking an 11-point lead at several points in the first and second quarters, but New Orleans closed the half on a 35-13 run that put them in control of the game.