The NBA champion Golden State Warriors will make a short stop in Louisiana to play the New Orleans Pelicans before continuing their midwest mini-trip. They should cruise to victory to help erase pains of the opening night loss. In their way, two of the best frontcourt players – Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins.
Warriors at Pelicans
Spread: Golden State Warriors -6.5 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: Over/Under 222.5 (-110)
Durant’s buzzer too late, Warriors fall to Houston
The Golden State Warriors got their flashy championship rings in a ceremony before the game, to remind them of the past accomplishment. Too bad that nobody reminded them about the effort they had to put in to get that far, as the Warriors looked out of shape, slow and unable to stand up to a furious rally Harden and the Rockets bench put up to steal the game from them. Much of Tuesday night, Golden State seemed headed toward victory. They opened up a 17-point lead and led by double digits entering the fourth quarter. The Warriors even though they had won the game with a last-gasp basket from Kevin Durant, but the clock had expired a fraction of a second before the ball left Durant’s hand and all the confetti launch and jubilation ended with blue faces.
Despite the last 9-0 run by the Rockets, the turning point actually happened in the 3rd quarter, when Draymond Green landed awkwardly and strained ligaments in his left knee. This forced him to sit out the rest of the game. Before the injury, Green almost collected a triple-double with 9 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists in just 28 minutes. Such injuries happen at any time, but are more frequent when overweight and with too few practice hours.
It didn’t matter that the Warriors shot 53.8 percent from the field, made 16 of their 30 three-point tries and missed just two free throws. Their defense was non-existent, a step slow and surprised by Harden bounciness. Players were standing around for the most part and without their defensive anchor and motor, the Warriors got deflated.
The Pelicans will probably pose no such threat to the champs, even if Green ends up missing this game. He missed practice and had an MRI, but the injury is reportedly nothing serious. Both him and Andre Iguodala remain questionable to play tomorrow.
Place: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Date/Time: Friday, October 20th, 2017. 9:30 PM ET
TV Coverage: ESPN
Nobody helping the Pelicans towering duo
The kind of stats Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins can put up individually can make you drop your jaw, but not only does that more frequently come in a loss, but has to leave Pelicans fans wondering if their supporting cast is that awful, or they still haven’t developed one treat that doesn’t get players any fantasy points – understanding how to make teammates better.
New Orleans lost in Memphis on Wednesday night, scoring a mere 91 points. Their superstar duo got their numbers. Cousins stuffed the stat sheet 28 points, 10 boards, and career-high 7 rejections. Davis paired 33 points with 18 rebounds, 7 on the offensive end. However, he was also a team-worst -15 during his time on the court. Whatever the reason, but the help from other players never came. Holiday decided not to wait and made the management look very bad for giving him the enormous contract right off the bat. He had as much fouls (5) and turnovers (3) as points (4) and dimes (4) combined. The bench got outscored 53-8 by the Memphis unit. Defensively, the Pelicans allowed Mike Conley to run circles around them, scoring inside and outside and creating shots for everybody else.
It was a terrible display without any indication that the things are going to improve by time, and the Warriors team, as unready as they are, leave little room for error to much more functional teams than Pels.
Golden State Warriors at New Orleans Pelicans Game Trends & Prediction
Even against the challenging Houston Rockets, the Warriors have been a large favorite to win the game, facing a handicap of 10 points. Even if Durant’s shot would have counted, they’d still lose the money of their backers. Each time this happens, the bookies will have a good day, so we are going to see a continuation of the last year’s practice. Their opening night game went to over, so I hope you followed my pick.
The Pelicans were also overrated in their game vs Grizzlies, but it was also a product of low expectations for Memphis team. They failed to cover by a considerable margin, and their inefficiency played a major role in the game finishing with fewer points than what was projected. They don’t have much of an outside shooting, so this might not be the only time this had happened.
A unique ranking system – AdmiRank helps you understand how good NBA teams are on a scale to 100. There is a considerable margin between the two teams, justifying a large away jolly setting. After both teams suffered losses and disappointing display, both are trending downwards.
There’s not much Pelicans can do to avoid defeat. The Warriors usually bounce back well from wins, so if you are expecting Curry and Durant to carry their team to win, you are probably right. Of course, you are probably not alone, so the bookmakers will fade any away value they can.
The Warriors are favored by 6.5 points and I think that they can cover, while the over is set at 222.5 points, something that should not be too hard to top, considering that Curry and Durant will most likely shoot the lights out after the game 1 loss to the Rockets.
My Pick: Warriors -6.5 (-110)
Total: Over 222.5 points (-110)
