Pelicans Face Tough Road Challenge With Visit To Steph Curry, Warriors

New Orleans hasn't had much success on the road at Golden State and both teams have playoff aspirations on the line.

Jan 10, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) / Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

New Orleans plays its final road regular season game when the Pelicans (48-32) travel to battle the Golden State Warriors (45-35) Friday night at the Chase Center. Both teams are playing on the second night of a back-to-back, with each team needing a win for different reasons. With New Orleans' victory on Thursday night, they assured themselves of at least the No. 7 seed in the West. That assures them a home Play-In Tournament game, but the Pels have a chance to escape the Tournament completely.

A victory on Friday night against the Warriors and Sunday against the Lakers assures the Pelicans the No. 6 seed. To win on Friday night, New Orleans must do something it hasn't done in franchise history, beat Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green on the road. The Warriors are undefeated at home against the Pelicans when all three future Hall-Of-Famers play together. Golden State is one of the hottest teams in the NBA now, winners of nine of their last ten games, marking the best record in the league over that stretch.

Golden State has moved into the ninth spot in the West and has a chance to move higher if they win their last two games. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green both sat out Thursday's win against the Trail Blazers, so they should be ready to go on Friday night. The teams split the season series this year, each winning a blowout game on their home court. Golden State enters the game atop the NBA in a few key offensive categories, including points, rebounds, assists, and made three-pointers. The head of the snake is Steph Curry, who again is having an All-NBA caliber year with 26 points per game on 40% shooting from beyond the arc.

The Pelicans counter with a star of their own in Zion Williamson, who scored 31 points on Thursday night despite suffering an apparent wrist injury in the second quarter against the Sacramento Kings. Williamson missed the last six minutes of the quarter but stormed out of halftime with a vengeance. Zion scored 17 points in the quarter and helped the Pelicans pull away after the Kings cut the lead to two points. Williamson has struggled in his last few matchups with the Warriors, scoring under 20 points in four straight games. New Orleans needs a big game from Williamson to win a key victory against the Warriors.

CJ McCollum has consistently been great in the absence of Brandon Ingram. McCollum has scored at least 30 points in four of his last five games, and in the one game he didn't, he scored 29 points. McCollum is playing some of the best basketball of his career at the right time for New Orleans. Reports are Brandon Ingram will be back in the lineup on Sunday in the team's season-finale against the Los Angeles Lakers.