NEW ORLEANS — The Warriors took care of business against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center Sunday night with a stunning 128-107 win, ending the regular season on a five-game winning streak to serve as the three seeds in the NBA playoffs to end .
Next up is a date with the Denver Nuggets in the first round.
Despite initially being mobbed on the boards, the Warriors immediately swung the ball across the court and Klay Thompson couldn’t miss. He scored 10 of Golden State’s first 12 points and went into halftime with 21 points.
That too was anything but a one-man show. The Warriors shot 60 percent from the field, 58 percent from deep and dished out 32 assists. That’s exactly how they wanted to end the regular season.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors dominating their regular season finals and ending with a 53-29 record, good for the Western Conference No. 3 going into the NBA playoffs.
Klay day
Thompson started Sunday night and needed 29 points or more to have at least 20 points in the season. And it looked like he knew, too.
From the start, Thompson found his rhythm, had his legs and was in total control. He didn’t stop after his hot start and walked away in the fourth quarter as the Pelicans tried to crawl back. Just like that, he scored 13 straight points in the fourth quarter and 15 overall for the frame
In fact, 20-point klay turned back into 30-point klay and then 40-point klay.
He scored a season-high 41 points in 31 minutes while going 16-29 from the field and 7-14 from 3-point range. This is his third straight game in which he has accumulated at least 30 points, a career-high. In the playoffs, Thompson averaged 110 points.
It’s a dream come true after what he endured for two and a half years and you could see how much it meant to him.
Poole finds his shot
One night, after grinding his way to 18 points coldly off the field, Jordan Poole efficiently scored 22 points as he made seven of his 16 tries and went 4-on-7 from 3-point territory. Just another day at the office for the breakout star.
Poole may have had five turnovers and looked gassed at times, but that’s an achievement to be proud of.
Now the Poole Party is coming to Chase Center and the playoffs for the first time.
The x factor
Jonathan Kuminga is a must-watch on TV. We already knew that as he showed us all during his rookie. That doesn’t mean it’s not fun to be reminded of.
Kuminga gave the Warriors the spark they needed off the bench in their win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night.
That carried over to New Orleans, with another big night for the 19-year-old. He played 21 minutes, scored 18 points and led the bench with plus 21.
There will be mistakes, there will be eye-opening highlights. Whether for the audience or the team, it’s clear that Kuminga is a game changer in more ways than one. It will be fascinating to see how Steve Kerr uses him in the playoffs and how much he trusts him.
Kerr said ahead of Sunday night’s game that Kuminga didn’t have anything to prove to him against the Spurs or Pelicans. Whether that’s true or not, Kuminga has once again made a strong case for more minutes in his first taste of the postseason.