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Warriors without Curry and Wiggins host the Pelicans in the NBA Week 2 - Expert Picks

Warriors without Curry and Wiggins host the Pelicans in the NBA Week 2 – Expert Picks

The Warriors will play their first game this season without superstar Steph Curry as they host the Pelicans in the first of two games in 24 hours between the clubs from the Bay Area.

The NBA odds are a bit in flux because of another key Warriors player listed as questionable in Andrew Wiggins.

Opening NBA Lines Subject to Change: Mavericks -8 (total 229.5)
Expert Prediction: Pelicans 114, Warriors 112
 

New Orleans Pelicans -135

The Pelicans won their first two games, but were upset 125-103 in Portland on Sunday. After New Orleans opened the game with an 8-0 run, Portland stormed back and took a 59-47 lead into halftime. The Blazers extended the lead to as many as 24 in the second half. Portland bullied the Pelicans on the glass, posting a 51-39 rebounding advantage and a 22-15 advantage in offensive rebounds. The Trail Blazers dominated the paint, too, outscoring the Pelicans 54-46 in points in the paint.

CJ McCollum

McCollum led the way with 27 points on Sunday along with four rebounds, three assists and four steals. McCollum has scored 20-plus points in each of the first three games of the regular season, and he will continue to be a focal point in the offense while Dejounte Murray (hand) remains sidelined. Murray fractured his hand in the season opener and is out several weeks.

Portland’s aggressive defense at times forced New Orleans to run its offense from well beyond the three-point arc. New Orleans finished 8-for-29 from deep, which is 28 percent. While addressing a question about the need for his team to attempt more 3-pointers, Coach Willie Green said this of the Pelicans’ approach at that end of the floor: “We have to play with force. We can’t walk the ball up. We have to attack… we’ll watch the tape on this game and look forward to getting better.”

Dejounte Murray

Without Murray, the offense has looked hapless and unorganized. In their two games against Portland over the weekend, the Pelicans’ points per possession during half court sets were 75.6 and 82.1, respectively. The absence of forward Trey Murphy III, who has been out since the start of October with a hamstring injury, only adds to the issues with spacing and creating easy opportunities in transition.

In Sunday’s loss, no New Orleans starter scored more than 14 points. Zion Williamson has struggled from the field over his last two games, going 7-for-27 from the field over that span. Last season, he was 1-of-3 NBA players to average 22-plus points and shoot 57% or better from the field this season. Brandon Ingram shot just 7-of-17 from the field in Sunday’s loss.

Coach Willie Green

“The guys know what we need to do,” Green added. “It’s just a matter of us putting it all together. It’s tough when you lose one of your top guys who had been playing all throughout camp and preseason. But it’s the NBA. As a group, we’ve got to keep working at it and figure it out.”

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Golden State Warriors -102

The Warriors suffered their first loss of the season Sunday, 112-104 at home to the Los Angeles Clippers, also saw superstar and two-time league MVP Steph Curry leave with a sprained ankle that will keep him out of both Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s games vs. New Orleans at a minimum.

Steph Curry

Curry first twisted the ankle with just under three minutes left in the third quarter. He immediately checked out of the game, limped to the sideline and sat on the bench, where he was tended to by athletic trainer Drew Yoder. Curry rocked back and forth on his chair for a few minutes before beginning to stretch out his ankle with a resistance band. He checked back into the game four minutes into the fourth quarter. Just seconds later, as Curry tried to fight through a screen, he aggravated the injury and was pulled for god. Curry finished the night with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including four made 3-pointers and six assists.

An MRI of Curry’s left ankle Monday did not detect any structural damage and described the injury as a left peroneal strain. He will be reevaluated Friday, meaning he will miss at least two games. Buddy Hield would make sense as a starter in place of Curry Despite his 3-for-14 shooting night Sunday, including 1-for-9 from 3, he is vital to the Warriors offense. The Clippers, assuredly noting Hield was 12-for-16 from 3 in the first two games, paid special attention to him when he came off the bench. Golden State will need the space and gravity of their best shooter available.

Andrew Wiggins

Wiggins likely would be the primary option without Curry and led the team with 29 points in Sunday’s loss, but is questionable himself with a back injury. It is believed he will play. Wiggins has started the season strong despite missing the preseason due to an illness. Another guard, De’Anthony Melton, has been ruled out Tuesday with a back issue.

The Warriors had a .375 winning percentage (3-5) in the eight games Curry missed last season. Since Curry began his NBA career with the Warriors in 2009-10, Golden State has an all-time 84-147 record in games he has not played in.

This marks the first of a back-to-back for both teams. The last time the Warriors played the same opponent in consecutive days was during the 2020-21 season, when they played the Pelicans at New Orleans on May 3 and 4, 2021.

Golden State has 14 sets of back-to-back games after having a league-high 17 last season, which was the most back-to-back set for the Warriors since the 2016-17 season when they had 17. In 2023-24, Golden State swept seven sets, split nine and were swept once. The Warriors were 13-4 in the first game of back-to-backs and 10-7 in the second game last season.

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How to Watch Pelicans at Warriors

When: Tuesday, 10 PM ET
Where: Chase Center
TV: TNT
Stream: TNT app

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Pelicans vs Warriors Last Season

Golden State is 46-28 all-time vs. New Orleans in the regular season but lost two of three last season – both defeats at home. The last meeting was on April 12 and New Orleans prevailed 114-109. CJ McCollum hit a 3-pointer with 1:03 remaining to help seal it and scored 28 points, and Zion Williamson had 26 points. Stephen Curry scored 33 points and hit a 3 with 56 seconds left but missed from the top of the arc with 13 seconds to play for the Warriors.

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2021 Pelicans vs Warriors
 

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