Pelicans vs. Warriors Preview | March 28
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The New Orleans Pelicans can move up to sixth place in the Western Conference with a win over the defending champs.
The New Orleans Pelicans (38-37) have seven regular season games remaining and are currently sitting in seventh place in the Western Conference. The squad’s final week’s worth of games starts with the defending champion Golden State Warriors (39-37). Reigning Western Conference Player of the Week Brandon Ingram will have to continue his hot streak to keep up with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. This game has huge implications for the playoff race.
The victors tonight will move into sixth place while the losing team will drop to eighth, with Minnesota (39-37) in between. New Orleans has outscored opponents by a combined 65 points during its five-game winning streak but this is still the tail-end of a back-to-back set. Opening with some good looks always helps and that should start with a continued focus on getting Jonas Valanciunas involved early for the Pelicans.
Ingram is playing at an All-NBA level at the moment but New Orleans needs to stick with featuring Valanciunas from the outset. Golden State loves to get out and run but they do not fare well against traditional centers. Going to Valanciunas early could slow the Warriors down a bit and also, perhaps, the Pelicans could even get some foul calls on the undersized defenders like Draymond Green, if Green plays.
New Orleans is still without Zion Williamson (hamstring) and Jose Alvarado (tibia). Golden State will be missing Andre Iguodala and Andrew Wiggins (personal). Draymond Green (neck) and Jordan Poole (wrist) have day-to-day designations on the injury report but are listed as probable.
Willie Green’s biggest defensive dilemma concerns where to put Herb Jones, on Steph or Klay? The next problem comes from defense-heavy lineups that cannot keep up regardless of how well Jones and Josh Richardson defends. Ingram and CJ McCollum can only do so much in staggered minutes and it’d be tough to ask for 9+ made three-pointers every game from Trey Murphy III.
Winning the minutes Curry and Thompson are off the court is almost as important as keeping the duo below 70 combined points. The Warriors are a top-heavy team without Wiggins. Jordan Poole is the only other player averaging more than 10 points per game. Jonathan Kuminga is sitting at 9.6 ppg, but Larry Nance Jr. should be able to keep Kuminga in check on reserve-heavy lineups.
New Orleans is up 2-1 in the season series with Golden State and could clinch the tiebreaker tonight. The Pelicans have just two road games left after this visit to the Bay Area. They travel to Denver on Thursday, have a four-game homestand, then head to Minnesota for the last game of the season.
Every single remaining game is against a team with a better current record. Can New Orleans pull off a few upsets and avoid the play-in tournament or will they wilt under pressure following a five-game winning streak against mostly lottery teams?
Well, to be the champs you have to beat the champs. The Warriors have the third-best defensive rating at home and 42% of their points in the Chase Center come from three-pointers which leads the league for all home games. Ingram’s willpower will get a playoff-caliber test tonight.
The Pelicans have only won 14 road games all season and 3 of those came this past week. Murphy III has really stepped up lately but Ingram only made six shots the last time he suited up in San Francisco. It will be interesting to see how this team rises to the challenge tonight and what adjustments Willie Green makes along the way.
Projected Starting Lineups:
Warriors: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Donte DiVincenzo, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney
Pelicans: CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Brandon Ingram, Trey Murphy III, Jonas Valanciunas
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