The defending champs have won each of their last four games as a double-digit favorite and since losing to Denver on October 21 are winning games by an average of 19.8 points, including a pasting of the Chicago Bulls on Monday night when they scored the second-most points in a first half with 92. Ninety-two!!! Golden State opens as a 12.5-point favorite tonight at home.
- The Pelicans are 3-28 SU in their last 31 games vs the Warriors.
- Golden State (124.3 PPG) and New Orleans (122.5 PPG) have the top two offenses in the NBA.
- New Orleans is 12-25 SU without Anthony Davis in the lineup since 2015-16.
Pelicans vs Warriors Game Center
Record-Setting Week
The 92-point first-half isn’t the most impressive mark reached by the Warriors on Monday as Klay Thompson set two NBA records. Thompson hit 10 three-pointers in the first half and went on to finish the game with 14 three-point field goals.
Pelicans Dealing With Injury Issues
The Pelicans, who have a strong team when healthy, are dealing with injury troubles to a number of starters. Their best player, Anthony Davis, is questionable for Wednesday with a sprained elbow (ouch) and has missed the last two games. Completely related, New Orleans has lost consecutive games to Utah and Denver.
Julius Randle, dealing with a foot issue, is probable for Wednesday, so that’s some good news for Pelicans bettors, but Darius Miller is doubtful while Elfrid Payton is out with an ankle injury. The Pelicans hung tough in Denver on Monday night, fighting back from a deficit of 20-plus points, but they will have a much tougher time doing so in Oakland.
Two Highest-Scoring Offenses in the NBA
The total opened at 233 for this game, and while that’s high, it may not be high enough for the two highest-scoring teams in the NBA. Golden State is averaging 123.3 points per game with New Orleans pretty close behind at 122.5.
A stat that may help push bettors to the OVER in this game is that New Orleans also has the 27th-ranked scoring defense at 118.8 points per game. For comparison’s sake, Chicago has the 28th-ranked scoring defense and we saw what happened to the Bulls on Monday.
My Pick for Tonight
The Warriors are my play tonight. New Orleans would need all hands on deck to compete and keep this game close but since the Pelicans won’t have their top lineup, I think Golden State is on its way to another 20-point win.
Even though the total opened at 233, I’d be perfectly OK taking the OVER in this game, too. Both teams are going to score more than 100 points, you can write that down in ink. Combined this season, these teams are 9-5 O/U and the OVER has cashed in Golden State’s last four games.
