Buddy Hield responded to his promotion to the starting lineup with a team-high 28 points, and the undermanned Golden State Warriors rallied from a 20-point deficit to outlast the visiting New Orleans Pelicans 124-106 in the opener of a two-day game, two -Games sequence on Tuesday evenings.

The Warriors played without Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins and De'Anthony Melton – all of whom were injured in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday – and sat thanks largely to the performance of new starters Hield, Brandin Podziemski (19 points) and Moses by Moody (17 points).

Lindy Waters III added 21 points in reserve. Jonathan Kuminga, who moved to the bench to provide more offense to the reserves, scored 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 shared a similar two-game NBA-style doubleheader at the same venue last week in Portland.

It took a while for Golden State's new look to become clear, and New Orleans held a 17-point lead at the end of the first quarter. Ingram contributed 12 points and Williamson seven to make it 31-14.

A three-point play by Williamson on the first possession of the second period made it a 20-point game before Golden State started to take advantage. The Warriors got within 51-47 by halftime and ended the third quarter with a 21-12 run, highlighted by two 3-pointers from Hield, turning a one-point deficit into an 87-point lead: 79.

New Orleans was playing its third road game in five days and never got closer than nine in the final 11½ minutes.

Hield drained 7 of 11 3-point attempts and Moody hit 4 of 5, helping Golden State outscore the visitors from long range, 63-27.

Waters, who missed his career high by four points, also contributed eight rebounds. Draymond Green contributed a game-high seven assists and two of Golden State's nine blocks.

Williamson shot 12 of 19 and Ingram 12 of 17 for the Pelicans, who lost despite shooting 54.1 percent from the field.

Williamson was New Orleans' leading rebounder with eight rebounds, while CJ McCollum had five assists to go, six rebounds and a team-high five points.

–Field level media