Buddy Hield responded to a promotion to the starting lineup with a team-high 28 points and the short-handed Golden State Warriors rallied from a 20-point deficit to overtake the visiting New Orleans Pelicans 124-106 in the opener of a two-day, two-game sequence Tuesday night.
Playing without Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins and De’Anthony Melton — all injured Sunday in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers — the Warriors prevailed in large part because of the play of new starters Hield, Brandin Podziemski (19 points) and Moses Moody (17 points).
Lindy Waters III added 21 points in reserve. Jonathan Kuminga, moved to the bench to help provide more offense to the backup crew, added 17 points for the Warriors, who won for the third time in their first four games.
Zion Williamson had a game-high 31 points and Brandon Ingram 30 for the Pelicans, who split a similar two-game, same-site NBA-style doubleheader last week at Portland.
Golden State’s new look took a while to jell, with New Orleans running up a 17-point lead by the end of the first quarter. Ingram contributed 12 points and Williamson seven to the 31-14 flurry.
A three-point play by Williamson on the first possession of the second period made it a 20-point game before Golden State began to chip away. The Warriors got to within 51-47 by halftime, then closed the third quarter with a 21-12 run, highlighted by a pair of Hield 3-pointers, to turn a one-point deficit into an 87-79 lead.
Playing its third road game in five days, New Orleans never got closer than nine over the final 11½ minutes.
Hield buried 7 of 11 3-point attempts and Moody hit 4 of 5, helping Golden State outscore the visitors 63-27 from beyond the arc.
Waters, who missed his career high by four points, also added eight rebounds. Draymond Green chipped in with a game-high seven assists and two of Golden State’s nine blocks.
Williamson connected on 12-for-19 and Ingram 12-for-17 for the Pelicans, who lost despite shooting 54.1 percent from the field.
Williamson was New Orleans’ top rebounder with eight, while CJ McCollum had a team-high five assists to go with six rebounds and five points.
