SAN FRANCISCO - Oracle Arena, the rollicking home of the Golden State Warriors, has been considered one of the NBA's loudest arenas for a long time. New Orleans Pelicans coach Monty Williams believes it might too loud.
''I'm not so sure that the decibel level is legal there, and I'm serious,'' Williams said before Game 2 on Monday. ''They've done studies on that. Being on the competition committee, there's got to be something to that because it does get a little out of hand.''
''I've talked about it for years, they've got some of the best fans in the league here, and they show up early. The music before the game, they're playing old school music, and it's right above your locker room. And you're like, `These people are crazy, man. This is pretty cool.' So I'm sure it has an effect, but after a few minutes it's just basketball.''
Williams' comments came before his team's morning shootaround at the University of San Francisco. The Warriors play across the bay in Oakland, where the Warriors have won 19 straight and 40 of 42 games this season.
Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis credited the crowd for his team's slow start in Game 1. The Warriors went ahead by 25 points in the third quarter before holding off New Orleans 106-99 on Saturday.
''My first playoff experience, it was pretty hectic. So much going on, it was so loud I couldn't hear my teammates, my coaches,'' he said. ''We started off bad as a team and picked it up as a team when we all got calm.''
