Warriors in commanding NBA Cup position after escaping with win over Pelicans

The Warriors are in pole position in the NBA Cup group stage.

By improving to 3-0 in group play, the Warriors can clinch a spot in the knockout round with a Nuggets loss; Denver plays Dallas on Friday night.

The Warriors (12-3) never pulled away from the shorthanded Pelicans, but they nonetheless escaped with a 112-108 after New Orleans wing Trey Murphy III missed what could have been a game-winning 3-pointer in the waning seconds.

Andrew Wiggins followed up his strong performance against the Hawks by pouring in a game-high 30 on 9-for-14 shooting (including 9-for-9 at the free throw line). The Warriors are now 7-0 against sub-.500 teams and 7-1 away from the Chase Center.

“Hell yeah, we want to get that money,” Brandin Podziemski said in his on-court postgame interview with NBC Sports Bay Area, referencing the bonus for players who win the NBA Cup championship.

The Pelicans were missing five of their top seven players. In a season full of injuries league-wide, no one has been hurt quite like the Pelicans, who are down Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herb Jones and Jose Alvarado.

In New Orleans’ starting lineup, then, were Murphy, Brandon Ingram, Javonte Green, Elfrid Payton and Daniel Theis.

They had no answers for Wiggins, who scored 13 of the Warriors’ first 23 points and started 5-for-5. Wiggins’ hot start came a game after he dropped 27 points on 12-for-17 shooting in a win over the Hawks. The Warriors have been optimistic Wiggins could return to his 2022 All-Star form since training camp, and he’s showing why.

But over the course of 48 minutes, the depleted Pelicans still faced an uphill battle.

New Orleans hung tight with Golden State, anyway. Murphy kept the Pelicans in it, scoring 15 points in his first 11 minutes. The Pelicans went on a 13-0 run in the second quarter to take the lead.

Despite Wiggins and Draymond Green hitting their first six 3-pointers combined, the Warriors trailed. Their defense, which has been elite so far this season, bled points in the paint.

An inspired Pelicans effort had them up 63-62 at halftime. The Warriors’ bench, the highest-scoring reserves in the league — got outscored by the Pelicans’ third stringers in the first half.

Moses Moody gave the Warriors terrific minutes in the third quarter, and Golden State clamped down more defensively. Yet they couldn’t earn separation.

Podziemski missed a clean look from 3 at the end of the third quarter — his fourth straight miss from deep in the game. He looked more decisive on the offensive end against the Pelicans than in previous games, but the shot still isn’t falling; he’s down to 18.9% from 3 this season.

When Steph Curry checked back into the game for his standard fourth-quarter shift, the Warriors led by six. Trayce Jackson-Davis instantly flushed a dunk from Wiggins in the short roll. Then Jackson-Davis swatted a shot, ran the floor and finished on the other end.

It was the first double-digit lead of the night for either team, and it only lasted a few seconds.

After another Pelicans answer, Wiggins spun his way into the league and finished with one hand for an and-1.

The Warriors closed the last two minutes with Curry, Moody, Wiggins, Gary Payton II and Green. Podziemski and Buddy Hield also played crunch-time minutes, going defense for offense. Without De’Anthony Melton, who’s out for the season with an ACL sprain, Steve Kerr has to search for combinations that work on a night-by-night basis.

That group, like all the others on Friday night, didn’t have a knockout punch. Turnovers kept the Pelicans within two possessions, and Brandon Ingram and Green each went 0-for-2 at the foul line.

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl canned a deep two to draw New Orleans within three with 20 seconds left. Hield sank two foul shots to put the Warriors back up five, but Murphy answered with a 3 that bounced around the rim and fell in.

Green threw away an inbounds pass out of a timeout, giving the Pelicans a chance to tie or win the game as time expired but Murphy couldn’t hit another one.

Margin of victory matters in NBA Cup play. But not as much when you’re the only 3-0 team in your group.