West Conf. Semis: New Orleans Pelicans 116-121 Golden State Warriors - 5 Talking Points

So the New Orleans Pelicans came better prepared in Game 2, to battle with the defending champs but the result was the same as Saturday - a loss on the road.

The Pelicans withstood every Warriors' run and threw one punch back every time but alas, the Warriors were just too good. Golden State has now taken a strong hold on this series, with a 2-0 lead but at the end of the day, they did what they were supposed to - win at home. Now, it's the turn of the Pelicans to do their bit.

As the famous saying goes " A series doesn't start until a team wins on the road".

But before we discuss anything about Games 3 & 4 in New Orleans, it's important to analyze Tuesday's night Game 2. Here are the five biggest talking points.

#5 Pelicans' non-existent bench

Former Warriors #2 Ian Clark

Over the course of the 2017-18 regular season, the New Orleans Pelicans' bench had the seventh best offensive rating (107.1). Great, right?

Not completely. They also had a defensive rating of 107.7, good for 22nd in the league. So net rating wise, they ranked in the middle of the pack in 16th but that's with arguably the smallest sample size - 1382 minutes (5th least by a bench).

In the Playoffs, the Pelicans' bench ranks 9th in offensive rating but second to last in defensive rating, only being better than the Cleveland Cavaliers. Again, those ranks come with the second-least minutes on the floor. Only the reserves of the Portland Trail Blazers have seen fewer minutes.

In Game 2, the Pelicans' reserves weren't bad per se but it seems to be the decision of the head coach to leave them out for a very short time.

Only one bench player was on the court for more than 10 minutes. The four reserves combined for 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting, with the only player to have a bad shooting night being Solomon Hill (10 mins, 1-of-6 shooting, 2 points).

Comparing their Game 2 numbers would be unfair as Game 1 had become a blowout midway through the third quarter, so as the benches are emptied for garbage time, the reserves stats are bound to seem inflated.

The point is that fewer minutes for the bench means more onus, responsibility and load on the starters. Given the pace, the Pelicans want to play at, at some point, the efficiency of the starters is bound to take a dip.

#4 Insane pace of play in this series

New Orleans Pelicans v Golden State Warriors - Game Two

After Game 1, Klay Thompson talked about being "tired" playing at the pace of the Pelicans. Through the 2018 Playoffs, New Orleans is the team that plays with the fastest pace and if you restrict that to just Conference Semifinals teams, they are first by a long margin.

On the other end, the Pelicans felt they had played slower than usual in Game 1 and needed to continue playing quicker in Game 2 to win. Well, they played quicker, much quicker and still lost.

Given that they have a very mobile big and a point guard who loves to run-and-dish ahead, the Pelicans prefer to play a fast-paced style of ball.

Unfortunately for them, the Warriors love playing fast too. Maybe not as fast but the Warriors have been known to thrive in a fast-paced game. It opens all aspects of the game that they can dominate and stranglehold their opponent with.

#3 Draymond Green is the key in this series

Draymond Green

Being the primary defender on Anthony Davis and a player that can run the team's fast break, Draymond Green is the key in this series. He can't afford to take a single night off, otherwise Davis will dominate the champs to a point of no return.

It's not just his defensive energy - with which he contests every possible shot Davis can take - but it's also his versatility and play-making ability on offense that deem him invaluable to this Warriors' team.

Through two games he's averaging a triple-double for this series - 18.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 11.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks on 12-of-20 (60%) shooting from the field and 3-of-7 from downtown (42.9%). He was only one rebound shy of a triple-double in Game 2.

#2 Was this New Orleans' best shot?

New Orleans Pelicans v Golden State Warriors - Game Two

It was quite obvious that the Pelicans underwent an uncharacteristic offensive slump in Game 1. Nothing like that happened on Tuesday night, however, as they tallied 116 points as compared to just 101 in Game 1.

So there was an obvious improvement on offense. Given the fact that the Warriors welcomed Stephen Curry back this game, the fact that they scored less in Game 2 than in Game 1 has to definitely count as an improvement on the defensive end.

Not that it's a consolation if it wasn't, but was this the Pelicans' best shot at beating the Warriors even in this series?

If yes, then we could be headed for a sweep and if no, then it requires us to wrack our brains enough to find out what they could possibly have capitalized more of in this game - because on the surface, there doesn't seem to be anything.

#1 What rust?

Stephen Curry in Game 2

After missing close to 5 weeks of action, Stephen Curry returned to action and oh boy, WHAT A RETURN it was!!

Curry had 28 points (2nd most in the game) in 27 minutes on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, including 5-of-10 on 3s. He had a team-high +26 in the +/- category - the next-best +/- for any player on either team was +9, representing a 17-point swing. Going by how the game unfolded (Klay Thompson's shooting struggles), it was clear that Curry was direly needed by the Warriors for this game.

He came off the bench, which is unlikely to happen in Game 3 unless he still has to follow a minutes restriction. The numbers are one thing, but Curry reminded everyone what they were missing by checking into the game and knocking down his first 3-pointer like it's nobody's business.