Pelicans-Warriors Preview
Stephen Curry can celebrate turning 28 with No. 60 overall and 49 in a row at home.
His Warriors can become the fastest team to reach 60 wins on his 28th birthday when they try to hand the New Orleans Pelicans a sixth straight road loss Monday night.
Golden State continued the best start in NBA history by improving to 59-6 with Saturday's harder-than-expected 123-116 home victory over lowly Phoenix. Curry scored 15 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter as the Warriors rallied from a nine-point deficit over the final 12 minutes.
"We've talked about it as a team," coach Steve Kerr said. "Every team we play in here is going to be excited for the opportunity to come in here and knock us off."
The Warriors extended their record home win streak and stayed one game ahead of the pace of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who set the league mark with 72 wins. Their 30-0 home record this season is second in the league to San Antonio's 32-0 mark.
Golden State learned before the game that top reserve Andre Iguodala will miss at least two weeks due to a sprained left ankle suffered in Friday's 128-112 win over Portland. His loss weakens a bench that will now see players such as Shaun Livingston, Brandon Rush and Marreese Speights get even more minutes.
"That's just something we're going to have to get adjusted to for however long he is out," Curry said. "We'll have to get prepared for that. But at the end of the day, we run the same offense, but it's one less playmaker, ballhandler."
Speights took advantage Saturday with a season-high 25 points in less than 18 minutes.
Curry will play on his birthday for the fourth time, losing the first two before he had 25 points and 11 assists last year in a 125-94 rout of New York.
Golden State clinched a second straight Pacific Division title when the Los Angeles Clippers lost to Cleveland on Sunday.
The Warriors have won eight straight at home over the Pelicans, including two victories in last year's playoffs. New Orleans (24-41) won't be returning to the postseason thanks to an injury-plagued campaign.
The Pelicans, coached by former Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry, are 0-3 on this trip following losses by 121-114 in overtime to Memphis on Friday and 103-92 to Milwaukee on Saturday. Jrue Holiday had seven turnovers each time, as New Orleans committed 17 against the Grizzlies and 16 versus the Bucks.
"To me I thought we had good effort after playing last night but I thought we just have to be more solid in what we're doing," Gentry said.
The coach says he has to be careful with Holiday because of the guard's injury history. The Pelicans will get a boost Monday if Norris Cole returns from a three-game absence due to a back injury.
''His back is still just a little bit too tight,'' Gentry said. ''Hopefully, we'll get him back for the last two games on the trip.''
The Warriors beat the Pelicans twice in October in their first matchups since the playoffs, with Curry totaling 93 points and making 13 of 26 3-pointers.
New Orleans star Anthony Davis averaged 22.0 points and 32.4 percent shooting in those games.
