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The Golden State Warriors got back to the business of winning Friday night, beating the New Orleans Hornets 122-114 for their first win with Kevin Durant, and despite 45 points by the Pelicans' Anthony Davis.

After getting blown out by San Antonio on opening night, the Warriors maintained a double-digit lead for most of the way vs. the Pelicans before a surge led by Davis, pulled the Pelicans within single digits with less than a minute to go. But that's when Durant sealed the victory for the Warriors by blocking Davis' shot and then scoring on a contested fast-break layup.

Takeaways

Even shot distribution: Golden State's primary scorers, Durant, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, have maintained their individual games would not be drastically affected. That held true Friday night as each scored more than 20 points with even shot distributions.

  • Durant: 30 points on 9-of-19 shooting.
  • Curry: 23 points on 8-of-19 shooting.
  • Thompson: 28 points on 11-of-21 shooting.

Should they maintain that kind of balance, the adjustment period figures to be short.

Golden State had troubles from behind the arc: Uncharacteristically for a team with Curry and Thompson, the Warriors shot poorly from beyond the arc for a second-straight game. On Friday, they made 9 of 28 (32.1 percent), up slightly from Tuesday vs. San Antonio (7 of 33, 21.2 percent).

Durant missed all three of his attempts.Thompson missed seven 3s and shot 22 percent from beyond the arc. Curry shot 40 percent (4 of 10) from long range.

Golden State got plenty of open looks from 3, so it figures to be a matter of time before their shots start dropping.

Anthony Davis can't be stopped: Durant believes Davis could lead the league in scoring and after another Friday's impressive performance, it looks like K.D. may be right.

Double-teamed most of the game, Davis poured in 45 points to back up his 50-point effort vs. the Nuggets on Wednesday. The versatile big man added 17 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks. He scored on a variety of post moves and shots at the rim and brought them all the way back by scoring 15 points in the fourth.

Despite two losses, Davis is off to a historic start, averaging 47.5 points, 16.5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4.5 steals and 3 blocks. Via ESPN Stats & Info, Davis is the first player to ever score at least 90 points in the first two games of a season since Michael Jordan in 1986.

If Davis keeps this up, he not only could win the scoring title, but also figures to be an MVP candidate, too.

Hole at center: Zaza Pachulia played much better in his second game with the Warriors after a dismal performance vs. San Antonio. In about 18 minutes, Pachulia had 10 points and 11 rebounds, and his rebounding is a key for Golden State. The Warriors need Pachulia to help fill the hole left by trading away Andrew Bogut.

Bogut is a good rim protector and strong defender and his absence is definitely felt. Pachulia is not a rim protector and neither is reserve big man David West. Golden State can also play Durant and Draymond Green at center in smaller lineups, though neither offers the rim protection the Warriors will need on occasion.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr also used second-year player Kevon Looney at center in the fourth. Looney missed last season because of injury but he is a lot more athletic and longer than Pachulia and West. He showed promise in limited minutes vs. New Orleans.