In the game of the Golden State Warriors against the New Orleans Pelicans Friday night, one thing was made clear before the season's second game started: the Warriors weren't going to play soft.
"You could tell, right?" center Zaza Pachulia said after the Warriors won with 122-114. We expected to see a better effort."
USA Today explained that what Pachulia meant is a better effort than the two-time defending Western Conference champion Warriors had turned in in the season opener, a loss to the San Antonio Spurs in which Golden State got pushed around under the boards.
"We got embarrassed (in the season opener)," acknowledged Golden State forward Kevon Looney. "It's something we talked about a whole lot after the last game, because it's more of an effort thing."
The Warriors added that the team did not need to overhaul its scheme going forward from the Spurs loss. Coach Steve Kerr focused on the players' mental side and a return to fundamentals.
"It's about wanting it and doing the right thing fundamentally: boxing out," Pachulia said. "Every night, it's rebound first."
Moreover, adding up to the pressure, according to Sports Illustrated, Draymond Green said that NBA teams this season are being more physical with the Golden State.
He did not mention any particular player while making his comments, which he made after their victory against the Phoenix Suns 106-100 on Sunday.
"Teams are trying to punk us, [but] it's fine," Green said. "We're not going to get punked."
Durant, who averaged 31.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists in three games, said he has not heard more chatter from opposing players this season.
"They're going to come at us physically," Durant said. "We took it tonight. That team was pressuring us to try to get us out of our stuff. We kept moving, we had a nice pace, we got stops and ran and got good looks all night. You can talk all you want. You still got to play."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
