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Defending champion Warriors host Pelicans Tuesday
By: Brian Graham - StatFox
Published: 10/26/2015  at  9:26:00 AM
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NEW ORLEANS PELICANS (0-0)

at GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (0-0)

Tip-off: Tuesday, 10:30 p.m. ET
Line: Golden State -8.5

The NBA champion Warriors begin defense of their title on Thursday night when they open the season as heavy favorites versus superstar Anthony Davis and the Pelicans.

New Orleans is coming off a strong 45-37 season where it earned the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs. Meanwhile, Golden State had a banner year with a franchise record 67 regular-season wins and its first NBA Championship since 1975. These teams met in the first round of last year's playoffs with the Warriors winning all four games by relatively close margins of 7, 10, 4 and 11 points, which made the Pelicans 3-1 ATS in the series. Although New Orleans won the 2014-15 regular season finale between the two (103-100 at home), that was the only game that Golden State has lost in this head-to-head matchup in the past three seasons where it is a dominant 14-1 SU (8-6-1 ATS). The last time New Orleans left Oakland with a win was on April 24, 2012, which is a span of seven straight Golden State victories (4-3 ATS). But the Pelicans were a strong road wager last season at 23-19-1 ATS (55%), including 17-11 ATS (61%) as a road underdog. However, the Warriors were 31-19-2 ATS (62%) at Oracle Arena where they lost just four times outright in 52 games. Both teams have some injury concerns for Tuesday's season opener, especially New Orleans, which will be without SF Tyreke Evans (knee), SF Quincy Pondexter (knee) and PG Norris Cole (ankle) for at least two more weeks. Three other Pelicans players are questionable for the game in C Omer Asik (calf), SF Luke Babbitt (hamstring) and C Alexis Ajinca (hamstring). Golden State is in much better shape, but C Andrew Bogut (broken nose) could be limited and rookie PF Kevon Looney could miss half the season after undergoing hip surgery in August.

Can the defending champs open their season with a win and cover on a hefty spread? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2015-16 season.

New Orleans was able to earn its first playoff berth in four seasons with an efficient offense that shot 45.7% FG (10th in NBA) and 37.0% threes (4th in league), but averaged only 99.4 PPG, which ranked 16th out of 30 teams. The club didn't turn the ball over much with 13.3 TOPG (6th in NBA) while dishing out 22.0 APG (11th in league). The defense was top-notch as well, limiting teams to 98.6 PPG (11th in NBA) and 33.5% threes (2nd in league). But despite an NBA-leading 6.2 blocks per game, opponents still shot 49.4% from inside the arc (21st in NBA) and 45.6% FG overall (23rd in league). C Anthony Davis made 1st Team All-NBA last season with 24.4 PPG (4th in NBA) on 53.5% FG (7th in league) with 10.2 RPG (8th in NBA) and a league-leading 2.9 BPG. The Warriors had no answer for Davis in the 2015 postseason as he averaged 31.5 PPG (54% FG), 11.0 RPG and 3.0 BPG in the four defeats. SF Dante Cunningham (5.2 PPG 3.9 RPG in 25.0 MPG) is expected to start for injured SF Tyreke Evans (16.6 PPG, 6.6 APG, 5.3 RPG), but Cunningham hasn't developed his offensive game enough to be counted on for double-digit points. Fortunately the Pelicans have a strong offensive backcourt of PG Jrue Holiday (14.8 PPG, 6.9 APG, 1.6 SPG) and SG Eric Gordon (13.4 PPG, 45% threes, 3.8 APG) to help cover for Evans' absence. Third-string C Kendrick Perkins might be starting down low if C Omer Asik (7.3 PPG, 52% FG, 9.8 RPG) and C Alexis Ajinca (6.5 PPG, 4.6 RPG) can't play due to injuries. The 35-year-old Perkins averaged a pedestrian 3.6 PPG and 4.7 RPG in 16.9 MPG for Oklahoma City and Cleveland last season.

Golden State's offense was potent last season with 110.0 PPG on 47.8% FG and 39.8% threes, all of which led the NBA. The Warriors also posted a league-best 27.4 APG while grabbing 44.7 RPG (6th in NBA) and shooting 76.8% FT (9th in league). This was also a strong defensive team that led the NBA in shooting defense (42.8% FG) and finished fifth in defending the three (33.7%). They forced 16.2 turnovers per game (5th in league) which kept opponents to a middling 99.9 PPG (15th in NBA) which was pretty good considering Golden State played the fastest pace of any team in the league. PG Stephen Curry took home his first regular-season MVP Award with 23.8 PPG (6th in NBA) on blistering shooting clips of 49% FG and 44.3% threes (4th in league) while adding 7.7 APG (6th in NBA). Curry also had a monster 2015 postseason series versus New Orleans when he averaged 33.8 PPG (42% threes), 7.3 APG, 5.3 RPG and 1.3 SPG. His "Splash Brothers" partner SG Klay Thompson also shot lights-out that series at 49% FG and 49% threes, averaging 25.0 PPG and 3.3 RPG in the sweep. Thompson made his first All-Star appearance and finished the season with 21.7 PPG (9th in NBA) on 46% FG and 43.9% threes (5th in league). Versatile PF Draymond Green did everything against the Pelicans in last year's playoffs with 15.8 PPG, 12.8 RPG, 6.3 APG, 2.5 SPG and 1.3 BPG. He made the 1st Team All-NBA Defensive Team during a regular season where he averaged 1.6 SPG and 1.3 BPG to go along with 11.7 PPG, 8.2 RPG and 3.7 APG. SF Harrison Barnes (10.1 PPG, 5.5 RPG) was also a key piece to this championship team with 10.6 PPG during the postseason, and SG Andre Iguodala (7.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 3.0 APG) was named NBA Finals MVP last season when he averaged 16.3 PPG on 52% FG and 40% threes, with 5.8 RPG and 4.0 APG in the six games versus Cleveland.


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