The Golden State Warriors overcame malaise and an early punch by a confident New Orleans Pelicans lineup.

Fresh off of a winning three game road trip, the champs downed the Pelicans 131-121. Stephen Curry lead all scorers with 37 points, while Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson chipped in with 24 and 18 points respectively.

Here are some quick observations from Wednesday night’s action.

Forgot About Dray?… Never

This is the part where we are going to have a discussion about Green’s matchups with Anthony Davis. Ever since last season’s playoffs, Green tends to win his match ups against the ‘Brow. Wednesday night, the former DPOY did it once again.

Green’s defense helped to hold Davis to 17 points off of 6-16 shooting from the field, while Green himself recording a double-double with 16 points, 14 rebounds, and eight assists. Generally, any scoring from Green is a luxury, but it is his willingness to facilitate, rebound, and lead the break with whatever unit that’s out on the floor is indicative of what kind of game Green is having.

Against the Pelicans, he was aggressive and opportunistic-got some lucky bounces from three and a couple of drives thorough the lane for buckets. When Green is taking advantage of opportunities offensively PLUS his typical defensive and facilitating impact on games, the Warriors are extremely hard to beat.

Bench Rounding Into Formation

It’s no secret that the biggest flaw that the Warriors have is the bench’s inability to score. Before tonight, opponents benches would consistently be outscoring the Warriors. The Dubs outscored the Pelicans’ bench in this game 30-21, and the play of Jonas Jerebko and Alfonso McKinnie were the biggest factors. Jerebko scored 10 points in 16 minutes of action while McKinnie hustled for key rebounds. Andre Iguodala looked spry, contributing nine points, three assists, two blocks and a steal. The second unit is making strides and getting into rhythm. Don’t be surprised if their emergence continues.

Steph Is Still Stephin’

At tipoff, Curry entered the game shooting 51.6 from deep. At the final buzzer, his shooting percentage jumped to an unbelievable 53 percent from three. Why? Curry shot 7-11 from deep, en route to a 37 point night on 12-of-20 shooting from the field. Plus, Curry dropped a team leading 9 assists.

Curry is shooting 55 of 104 from three on the season. In his Unanimous MVP season where he made a record-setting 402 threes, Curry averaged 5.1 made threes per game. This season, it’s 6.1.

Curry is now averaging a league leading 33.0 points per game. In the first eight games, Curry failed to score 30 or more points three times. The lowest point total for Curry so far is 23. Not just any 23, but 23 points on 9 shots.

Two Questions from the Game and a Prediction

The two things that I’m wondering about is Damian Jones foul happy ways and playing time for Jordan Bell.

While trying to guard Davis, Jones instantly got in foul trouble-picking up three quick fouls. If he did that against Davis, it’s possible to see Jones get in foul trouble trying to slow down Karl Anthony Towns.

In addition to Jones, I’m wondering about what is up with Jordan Bell and his playing time. Against the Pelicans, Bell saw 10 minutes of action. That’s 10 minutes more than he’s been seeing all season. During those minutes, Bell was hit or miss. Bell displayed his athleticism and energy and his ability to defend smaller players. Unfortunately, Bell’s need to be overeager supported the reason why he hasn’t really been seeing the floor like he should.

Granted, it’s obvious that early foul trouble made head coach Steve Kerr trot out strange lineups. However, it was refreshing that Bell got some playing time. He still needs some work but what other way to get some run is playing an athletic Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night. Bell’s athleticism will be needed against KAT and his ability to switch onto smaller guards would be welcome in the lineup and something worth considering.