5 consecutive losses! The Warriors defeated by 18 points, Curry made 2 of 11. In this game, I completely saw three facts.

Editor|Old Kankanqiu

On November 17, the NBA 2025-26 regular season ushered in the focus of the Western Conference. The New Orleans Pelicans sat at home to face the Golden State Warriors. What is amazing is that after Curry was injured, the Warriors once suffered a seven-game losing streak on the road. However, as Curry returned from injury, he scored 45+ in two consecutive games, leading the team to double defeat the Spurs, setting an NBA historical record. It has to be said that veterans including James, Curry, Durant and Harden are still dazzling stars in this league.

In comparison, the Pelicans are off the mark this season. They currently only have a record of 2 wins and 10 losses, suffered 4 consecutive losses, and ranked last in the Western Conference. It is really disappointing. Before the game, US media ESPN predicted the real-time winning rate of this game. The Warriors' winning rate is as high as 71.5%, while the Pelicans' winning rate is only 28.5%. The gap is obvious.

In terms of the starting lineup for today's game, for the Warriors, Cole's latest starting five was temporarily changed to: Stephen Curry, Moses Moody, Will Richard, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green; for the Pelicans, the starting lineup was: Jeremiah Fells, Herbert Jones, Trey Murphy, Saddiq Bay, and Derrick Quinn.

At the beginning of the first quarter, Jones succeeded in a layup, Saddiq Bay tipped in and scored again. The Pelicans led the Warriors 4-0 at the beginning. Moody hit consecutive three-pointers and returned the favor. Green dealt cards accurately from the high post. Butler made a baseline cut and layup to score 2+1. Curry made a three-pointer. Quinn defended and was called for a three-point foul. The referee did not upgrade after reviewing the review. The Warriors overtook the Pelicans by 8 points. Alvarado faced a change of defense, and he faced Green directly and confidently hit a three-pointer, stopping the bleeding in time. Moody caught the ball and hit three consecutive three-pointers. Currently, he has scored 15 points on 5 of 6 three-pointers. The Warriors have opened the point difference to 14 points. Sadiq Bay made another mid-range shot, and Murphy III forced Curry to foul, slightly stabilizing the situation. Moody caught the ball and hit two more three-pointers. He made 7 of 8 three-pointers and scored 21 points in a single quarter. He shot like crazy. In transition between offense and defense, Horford caught the ball and hit a three-pointer. After the first quarter, the Warriors led the Pelicans 44-28 by 16 points.

In the first quarter of the game, the Warriors made 10 three-pointers, including 7 three-pointers by Moody alone.

Back in the second quarter, Quinn counterattacked and sent a precise long pass. Murphy leaped high and completed a two-handed alley-oop dunk. Fells broke through for a layup and scored 2+1. The Pelicans played a 9-3 wave to catch up to single digits, and the Warriors had no choice but to call a timeout. Curry still makes three-pointers when catching the ball at the top of the arc. He has now hit 0-for-6 and only scored 3 points on free throws. Murphy made an air cut without the ball and reached the basket with two hands to finish the game. At this time, there was another funny scene. Green had an argument with the Pelicans home fans. The referee was helpless to mediate, and the fans opened their hands and smiled in response. Butler completed a steal in the frontcourt and scored a buzzer-beating dunk. After halftime, the Warriors still led the Pelicans by 12 points 61-49.

Halftime data, for the Warriors, Curry made 0 of 6 shots, 0 of 3 three-pointers, and only scored 3 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists on 3 of 3 free throws; Moody played 16 minutes and scored 21 points, 3 rebounds and 1 block on 7 of 11 shots; Butler made 4 of 6 shots, 1 of 3 three-pointers, and 3 of 3 free throws, scoring 12 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists, and 1 steal.

For the Pelicans, Murphy made 3 of 9 shots, 1 of 4 three-pointers, 6 of 6 free throws, and scored 13 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals, but had 4 turnovers, with a plus-minus value of -7; Alvarado made 3 of 6 shots, 2 of 4 three-pointers, and 2 of 2 free throws, contributing 10 points and 1 assist.

Changing side to fight again, Curry made up the defense and caused an offensive foul on Quinn. The Pelicans chose to challenge and successfully changed the penalty. Curry attracted two defenders from the outside and passed the ball to Green for an easy layup. Richard grabbed the offensive rebound, layup and scored again on the second offense. The Warriors led to 20 points. After Butler stole the ball, the Warriors went two-on-zero in the frontcourt, assisted Curry to score the first sports goal of the game, then faced the defense and made a strong shot, and then hit the first three-pointer of the game. After three quarters, the Warriors led the Pelicans 85-74 by 11 points.

In the decisive battle in the fourth quarter, Moody broke through Alvarado and scored 2+1 with a layup against a strong attack. He then followed up on the fast break and received an assist from Butler for a dunk. He has scored 32 points, setting a new career scoring high. There was no suspense in the game. In the end, the Warriors easily defeated the Pelicans 124-106 by 18 points. While winning 3 consecutive games, they gave their opponents a 5-game losing streak.

In terms of statistics, for the Warriors, Curry made 2 of 11 shots and scored 8 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists; Moody made 10 of 16 shots, including 8 of 12 three-pointers and scored 32 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block; Butler made 5 of 5 free throws and scored 18 points, 3 rebounds, 10 assists and 3 steals.

For the Pelicans, Murphy made 6 of 13 shots and scored 20 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals; Alvarado contributed 18 points and 3 assists.

In this battle, I have thoroughly seen three facts. First, Curry's state is still a bit up and down. I don't know if it is due to injuries, but his ability to attract defense can still create better shooting opportunities for his teammates; second, Green and Butler are pretty good on the defensive end, but they are too sluggish on the offensive end. If they don't shoot three-pointers when they have the opportunity, it gives the opponent a reason to shrink the defense.