Hornets Welcome Warriors as Play-In Race Heats Up

Golden State travels to Uptown for Curry's homecoming.

Injury Report

Hornets: OUT Curry (Ankle), Martin (Ankle), Ball (Ankle), Williams (Back) Probable Bertans (Nose)

Warriors: Questionable Kuminga (Knee), Saric (Knee)

Game Preview

Both ball clubs have already met once this season on February 23rd at Chase Center. The Hornets were unable to get their offense going that night, scoring only 29 points in the first half. The hosts didn't light any fireworks themselves, but they continued to contain Steve Clifford's team in the following quarters and secured a 97-84 victory in the end. Maybe more memorable than the game itself was the brawl that ensued in the closing seconds of the match.

Overall, it has been an up-and-down season for the Warriors, who have won three of their last five. The team from San Francisco has struggled to find consistency amid injuries, a temporary suspension of Draymond Green, and the untimely passing of assistant coach Dejan Milojevic. Nonetheless, the squad led by arguably the greatest shooter of all time, Stephen Curry, has managed to stay in playoff contention through it all. Currently sitting at 10th place (38-34) in the heavily contested western conference, only one game ahead of the Houston Rockets, Golden State is in desperate need of wins. 

Besides the usual contributions from his veterans and promising forward Jonathan Kuminga, head coach Steve Kerr has also gotten very productive minutes out of rookies Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis. Podziemski, a 6'5'' guard, really symbolizes the Warriors' strengths. He shoots a solid 37% from deep, and stuffs the stat sheet, with 5.8 rebounds (6th amongst rookies) and 3.7 assists (4th amongst rookies) per game. Golden State as a team dishes 29.1 assists (4th in the league) and also grabs a league-high 46.8 boards per contest. That could be a major problem for the Hornets, who find themselves on the other end of the rebounding spectrum.

Key Match-Up: The guard rotation vs Stephen Curry

Golden State is 14-7 on the year when the 2-time MVP goes for more than 30. "Chef Curry", as the Warriors fanbase likes to call him, has seen a very slight drop in production compared to last season. That being said, he still averages 26.5 points, can catch fire at any moment, and nearly set a new career-high in points when he scored 60 just a few weeks ago. The Hornets' backcourt rotation will have their hands full guarding him, but did well in the last meeting, holding Curry to 5 of 14 from the field and forcing 4 turnovers. Micic and Mann also did a solid job in Charlotte's win against Cleveland two days ago, making life difficult for their lead-guard Darius Garland and snapping a five-game losing streak in the process. 

PROJECTED STARTERS