Stephen Curry scored 34 points with an MVP-worthy performance, and the Golden State Warriors went up big before holding off the New Orleans Pelicans 106-99 in their playoff opener Saturday. Klay Thompson added 21 points, and Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut dominated down low as the Warriors looked every bit like the NBA's top seed - at least for three quarters. They smothered Anthony Davis and the Pelicans with the league's best defense, thrilling a gold shirt-wearing sellout crowd of 19,596 that rocked and roared all afternoon.