Warriors vs. Pelicans Monday NBA injury report, odds: Stephen Curry and Golden State starters will play second game of back-to-back
The Warriors will not rest their starters in the second half of a back-to-back on Monday.
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Last season, there were a few times when Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr was not bashful at all about resting stars Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and even Andrew Wiggins in the same game. The NBA tried to stop that with a new rule this offseason that prevents teams from resting multiple star players in the same matchup or sitting healthy ones in nationally televised or in-season tournament games. Thus, despite the Warriors having played on Sunday night, Kerr says all his key players will start tonight in New Orleans, which is -4 on the SportsLine consensus.
Golden State improved to 2-1 with a 106-95 victory in Houston on Sunday. Curry had 24 points, including four key 3-pointers down the stretch. Thompson added 19 points. Green made his season debut after recovering from an injury and had four points, five rebounds and five assists in 21 minutes. He did start, which meant future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul had to come off the bench for the first time in his NBA career. It seemed to suit Paul. as he was a team-best plus-22 in 27 minutes. In the first three games of the season, the Warriors reserves have outscored the opponent's bench in each game by a combined 106-78 score.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, since 1970-71 when starters were first recorded, Paul's streak of 1,216 regular season games started was the longest to start a career and ranked fifth all-time. Paul was selected by the New Orleans franchise (Hornets at the time) with the fourth overall pick of the 2005 NBA Draft and played his first six seasons there. He remains the franchise leader in assists (4,228) and steals (1,010) and was named the 2005-06 Rookie of the Year.
Kerr said after the win that he will use the same starting lineup Monday of Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, Green and Kevon Looney, although he could still limit their minutes. Curry hasn't played in New Orleans for one reason or another since the COVID season of 2020-21, so his last appearance in front of a full Smoothie King Center crowd was almost exactly four years ago, on Oct. 28, 2019. The Warriors have played the Pelicans in the second game of a back-to-back five straight times in the last three seasons.
New Orleans won at Memphis in the season opener last Wednesday and then beat the visiting Knicks 96-87 on Saturday. Zion Williamson looks quite healthy, averaging 23.5 points on 61.8% shooting along with 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He is set at over/under 25.5 points and 6.5 rebounds for Monday. The Pelicans and Warriors split four games last season, each sweeping at home.
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