Monty Williams on Pelicans' 0-3 hole: 'We've got to be men'

The word "execute" was bandied about the New Orleans Pelicans' locker room so much after their stunning loss to the Golden State Warriors on Thursday that you would have thought Russell Westbrook was in the house.

The problem is, it was New Orleans conceding that they did not come through in the clutch. 

"We didn't execute the game plan," coach Monty Williams told media after the 123-119 OT loss, in which the Pelicans surrendered a 20-point, fourth-quarter lead. Specifically, he referred to his team failing to foul on Stephen Curry's game-tying three that sent the game to overtime, saying: "We were supposed to foul."

"I'm not going to call anybody out, but we definitely did not execute," Pelicans guard Norris Cole said. "We did not execute what we said we were going to do. And it cost us."

Williams had apparently instructed the Pelicans to foul immediately after the Warriors inbounded the ball. Failing to do so, Curry missed his first off-balance three, but Marreese Speights made the key play of grabbing the offensive board. 

In hindsight, fouling Speights at that point could've been an option. When Quincy Pondexter lost Curry on a quick cut to the corner, Speights then screened Pondexter, giving Curry all the separation he needs - which isn't much. 

Now the Pelicans find themselves on life support, having to put a backbreaking loss behind them and avoid a sweep in Game 4 on Saturday. Williams, whose job is quite possibly in jeopardy, offered all he could.

"We've done a lot of good this year and we can't let a moment like that destroy it," he said. "Now we're down 0-3. We've got to be men."