Your Pregame Moment of Zen
The Warrior Outlook
Dreams of a post-season berth have gradually faded in the California Bay Area, and that's something of a shame since Golden State has an eclectic, fun-to-watch group of players. Monta Ellis' frenetic drives are surrounded by the solid interior play of David Lee and the amazingly smooth shot of Stephen Curry (watching him shoot is eerily similar to watching Dell Curry shoot for the Hornets more than a decade ago).
Nothing is decided in the Western Conference, but at 13-21, Golden State is 5 games and 4 spots out of 8th place. Their -4.9 point/game differential is bested by only Sacramento and Minnesota in the West. They're a mediocre offensive team (largely lifted up by strong offensive rebounding and decent shooting) and an extremely poor defensive team that happens to do both those things at a frenetic pace.
Subplots
- New Orleans has had some exciting games against Golden State in the Chris Paul era, dating back to the early CP-Baron Davis battles.
- Golden State is the NBA's worst defensive rebounding team, so even if the Hornets miss some shots tonight, they should be looking for second and third opportunities.
- While the Warriors are awful on defense (2nd worst only to Phoenix), they do force many turnovers. Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry both rank among the league's top thiefs (2.9% and 2.8% steal percentages, respectively; for what it's worth, Chris Paul leads the NBA at 4.6%). Overall, the Warriors rank 3rd in opponent turnover percentage in the conference.
- David Lee has struggled through some scary injury issues this year, and as a result, hasn't played the way we're accustomed to. Through 25 games, he's posting career low rates in defensive rebounding, total rebounding, effective field goal and true shooting percentages.
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