NEW ORLEANS — Rajon Rondo told Anthony Davis to “take a nap and think about 50” in the hours leading up to a playoff game New Orleans all but had to win to have any hope of staging a playoff upset against defending champion Golden State.
Davis didn’t quite score 50, but his dominance around and above the rim got the Pelicans back in the series.
Highlighted by dunks of the driving, put-back or alley-oop variety, Davis had 33 points to go with 18 rebounds and four steals, and the Pelicans defeated the Warriors 119-100 on Friday night to trim Golden State’s series lead to 2-1.
“He came out aggressive. He set the tone on both ends of the floor,” Rondo said. “He attacked the rim strong tonight.”
Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry added that he “felt real good” during a timeout when he heard Davis say, “We’re not losing this game.”
Davis’ determined play around the basket helped New Orleans outscore the Warriors 54-36 in the paint and outrebound Golden State 54-44.
“Our mindset is to go out there and play, do what we’re supposed to do, follow the game plan and whatever results happen, happen,” Davis said. “We followed the game plan to a tee.”
The Warriors have been known to erase large deficits in a hurry, but each time they tried to do so in Game 3, the Pelicans responded resoundingly. The Warriors never led by more than a single point and trailed by double digits for almost the entire second half, going down by 25 points in the third quarter and 26 in the fourth.
Golden State shot uncharacteristically poorly from outside, missing 22 of 31 3-point attempts and finishing at 38 percent shooting (35 of 92) overall.
“Most of it is attributed to the Pelicans. Their defense was great,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “They were the aggressors. They brought the necessary force to the game on their home floor and these are the ebbs and flows of the playoffs.”
ROCKETS 113, JAZZ 92
SALT LAKE CITY — James Harden had 25 points and 12 assists to lead Houston to a win over Utah in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinals series.
Eric Gordon added 25 points and Chris Paul had 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Rockets. Houston beat Utah in Salt Lake City for the third time this season to take a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 is on Sunday.
Royce O’ Neale scored 17 points. Alec Burks chipped in 14 points while Rudy Gobert added 12 points and nine rebounds for the Jazz.