Tonight is a battle of the Western Conference’s bottom two teams as the 14th-seeded New Orleans Pelicans go on the road to play the 15th-seed Golden State Warriors.
The Pelicans are 7-22 on the season. They recently snapped their 13-game losing streak behind a 107-99 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Meanwhile, the Warriors (5-24) are riding a five-game losing streak into tonight’s game.
Golden State has been without their two All-Star guards in Klay Thompson and Steph Curry this year. Thompson has missed every game after suffering an ACL tear in the NBA Finals, while Curry has been out since Halloween with an injured hand.
The Warriors have rolled out a starting lineup that consists of D’Angelo Russell, Alec Burks, Glenn Robinson III, Draymond Green and Willie Cauley-Stein. Damion Lee replaced Burks in the lineup in the Warriors’ loss to the Portland Trailblazers on Wednesday.
Warriors rookie Eric Paschall is averaging 15.9 points and five rebounds in 30.4 minutes per game.
Brandon Ingram leads New Orleans in scoring, averaging 25.3 points per game. Jrue Holiday is second on the team in scoring (19.4) and leads the team with 6.6 assists a game.
The Pelicans have dealt with injuries of their own. Rookie Zion Williamson has not played in a game this season after undergoing surgery for a torn right lateral meniscus. No player has played in all 29 games this season. Holiday has appeared in the most games this season, playing and starting in 27 games for the Pelicans.
Their defense ranks 29th in the league. New Orleans is allowing opponents to score 118.9 points per game, but they have held their last two opponents to under 100 points in regulation.
This game was originally was going to be on ESPN’s primetime slot, but it’s been removed from the broadcast. The Pelicans and Warriors are scheduled to play at 9:30 p.m.