Stephen Curry's clutch 3-pointer sets up Warriors for 123-119 overtime win against Pelicans

NEW ORLEANS - Stephen Curry tossed up a rainbow 3-pointer from the corner that tied the game on the scoreboard but really served to drive a stake right into the heart of the New Orleans Pelicans.

Curry’s shot while falling out of bounds sent the game into an overtime period that the Golden State Warriors’ opponents could have never imagined. The Pelicans entered the fourth quarter leading by 20, only to see Curry lead the Warriors back from the dead for a stunning 123-119 win Thursday night.

The Warriors won a franchise record-setting 67 games in the regular season, including a league-leading 28 on the road, but none compares to the one they notched against the Pelicans in Game 3 of their first-round series that the Warriors now lead 3-0.

The Pelicans left a crack open after dominating for most of the game when Anthony Davis missed a free throw with 9.6 seconds left, giving the Warriors a chance to tie it with a 3-pointer.

Of course the ball went to Curry, and the NBA’s all-time single-season record-holder in such shots missed his first try. Given a second try off a Marreese Speights offensive rebound, Curry threw up some magic from the corner opposite the Pelicans’ bench. Curry pumped his fists after Tyreke Evans’ 3-point attempt at the buzzer missed.

In overtime, Curry started the scoring with his seventh 3-pointer of the game. He finished off the Pelicans with two free throws to give the Warriors a four-point lead with 3.2 seconds left that gave him a game-high 40 points.

Klay Thompson added 28 points, including six 3-pointers of his own. Draymond Green added 12 points, 17 rebounds and five assists the day he learned he finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year award voting.

Davis poured in 29 points, and Ryan Anderson added 26 off the bench, but it wasn’t enough. The Warriors can sweep the series with another win in New Orleans on Saturday.

The Warriors tried to rally back in the second half after Curry cut the deficit to nine by hitting three free throws in a row, including one on a technical. They were met by Davis responding with two consecutive jump shots to start a 10-0 run that gave the Pelicans a 19-point lead.

Thompson scored on a 3-point play, and Curry then hit back-to-back 3-pointers, but the Pelicans on Dante Cunningham’s dunk pushed the lead to 89-69 at the end of the third.

But Curry, after re-entering the game in the fourth, combined with Shaun Livingston to bring the Warriors back. Harrison Barnes cut the deficit to eight by throwing down a thunderous putback dunk with 3:35 left. A Livingston tip-in followed by a Green offensive rebound and putback made it 105-101 with 1:40 left.

Livingston drew a foul going for an offensive rebound and hit a free throw with 21.3 seconds left. Curry hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game with 11.8 seconds to cut the lead to two before his dagger to send it to overtime.

The Warriors shot 40.4 percent from the field but actually began the game red hot, with Curry and Thompson combining to hit their first five attempts from 3-point range. The show of firepower left the Warriors with a 17-9 lead, though it did not overwhelm the Pelicans.

Green was promptly whistled for two fouls within a minute, and when he sat on the bench for the rest of the quarter, Davis began to impose his will.

Davis had a putback dunk, Evans had a breakaway dunk off a Leandro Barbosa turnover and Jrue Holiday came off the bench to hit a jump shot to put the Pelicans ahead 26-25 at the end of the first.

New Orleans turned it into a 19-0 run, scoring the first 13 points of the second while the Warriors’ jump shots momentarily stopped falling.

The Pelicans led 39-25 before Green came back off the bench and halted the run with a dunk and Livingston completed a 3-point play.

Anderson, whom the Warriors had shut down in Games 1 and 2, responded off the bench with the next nine Pelicans points.

After Green missed a 3-pointer, Davis was off to the races and got the ball in transition for a dunk. He followed with a jump shot, and Norris Cole made another fast-break layup to push the lead to 16 points.

Thompson hit his next three shots to bring the Warriors closer at halftime, as they trailed 63-52.

The Pelicans were shooting 59.6 percent and got 31 points out of their bench at the half.