Game Time: 9:00 PM ET, Sunday, April 10th, 2022 

Venue:   Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana

Where to Watch: TNT 

DraftKings:  Spread:  

Fanduel:  Spread:  NL

BetMGM:  Spread: NL

Warriors: 51-29, 3rd place Western Conference

Pelicans: 36-44, 9th place Western Conference

A Western Conference NBA matchup between a top team that needs a quick rebound of health… and an average team on borrowed time.  The Golden State Warriors have had a rough last two months of basketball.  They started the season on the same type of high as the Phoenix Suns… beating everybody they stepped up to… jockeying in and out and back in again to first place.  The Warriors spent a couple seasons down and out after SF Kevin Durant spurned them for the Brooklyn Nets AND SG Klay Thompson went down with a knee injury that would become two knee injuries… and Klay would miss 2 1/1 seasons.  The result was chaos and losing… the losing led to trades and high draft picks.  All of a sudden at the start of this season… the Warriors were rebuilt.  They still had PG Steph Curry, the greatest game changing shooter in NBA history… and they still had PF Draymond Green, one of the best defensive players in NBA history that may go down as the engine that made the Warriors dynasty run (on his Hall of Fame plaque!).  This season they were great again.  They played with joy, passion, skill, youth, wisdom and depth. Then Draymond Green went down with injury just as Klay Thomspson finally returned… the losing started… Then Steph Curry went down with injury when Draymond Green returned.  The result was even more losing.  They will finish the season after this game with 51-53 wins after spending most of the season destined to win 60-65 games.  The losing may help in the long run.  PG Steph Curry, PF Draymond Green, and SG Klay Thompson have played a total of 11 minutes together this season.  NOT 11 games…. 11 minutes!  They will all be on the starting roster when the playoffs begin.  The bench is now very battle tested… and they get to go back to supporting Hall of Famers instead of trying to gut out wins… a much easier place to shine.  The New Orleans Pelicans are a bad basketball team.  They will be in the NBA Western Conference “play-in” tournament because the Los Angeles Lakers, the Sacramento Kings, and the San Antonio Spurs are worse basketball teams… seriously those others are stinkier garbage.  Still the Pelicans have found themselves at this late stage of the season as the team most likely to have a puncher's chance.  The addition of SG CJ McCollum at the trade deadline worked!  It has radically transformed the Pelicans. The former best player on the roster SF Brandon Ingram now gets to be the second best player… a position the shy, low voiced Ingram is vastly more comfortable with.  McCollum also helps the assortment of guards and random forwards who no longer have to play hero ball when they are completely unprepared.  The team has a new hero and that makes every other player’s job easier.

The Golden State Warriors have won 4 of their last ten games.  They went 5-5 ATS during that stretch. They are on a 3-game winning streak that highlights how much deeper the Warriors are than the standard issue NBA team.  When both teams have their stars sitting out… the Warriors still have a quality team on the floor.  The Lakers, the Kings, and the Jazz only have G-League players after sitting or missing a few of their stars.  It shows.  We should expect PG Stehen Curry, SG Klay Thompson, and PF Draymond Green to simply not play the last game of the season.  They have nothing to prove and their spot in the standings is not in real jeopardy.  That still leaves a very strong team on the floor. SF Andrew Wiggins, PF Jonathan Kuminga, SG Jordan Poole, PG Gary Payton II, C Kevon Looney… with super subs Moses Moody, Damion Lee, and Otto Porter Jr ready to go at a moment's notice.

The New Orleans Pelicans have won 7 of their last ten games.  They went 7-3 ATS during that stretch.  The recent feel good wins over Portland and Sacramento have come without the help of SF Brandon Ingram.  He is experiencing hamstring tightness (maybe?) and most likely will not lace them up until the playoff game.  Ingram’s absence has made some extra playing time for PF Herbert Jones to play alongside other PF Jaxson Hayes.  Herbert has not really made the most of his extra minutes offensive scoring 8 pts against the Kings and 9 pts against the Blazers… but the defensive numbers are up a bit.  Of course that’s not very scientific since the Kings and Blazers are not special in any way whatsoever on offense.  

Al McMordie had another GREAT DAY on Thursday, including BIG winners on the Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors and Carolina Hurricanes (with Milwaukee being a win/push/loss, depending on one's number). Big Al's riding a RED-HOT 25-8 Basketball run, and is back on the NBA hardwood tonight with this NBA Triple Pack. Get on board right now, and get your broom ready for a 3-0 SWEEP! Go get it! Get Big Al’s Sports picks!   You can discover the best  picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB, college football… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

Golden State is 51-29 on the season, but 40-36-4 ATS.  They have logged 34 Overs, 44 Unders, and 2 Push.

The New Orleans Pelicans are 36-44 on the season, but 41-38-1 ATS.  They have notched 30 Overs, 48 Unders, and 1 Push.

The Warriors are 15th in scoring with 110.9 ppg, 8th in rebounds with 45.5 per game, and 11th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8.  On defense they rank 5th while holding opponents to 105.6 ppg.

The Pelicans are 21st in scoring with 109.3 ppg, 9th in rebounds with 45.5 per game, and 15th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8.  On defense the rank 13th while allowing 109.7 ppg form opponents.

Our prediction for Sunday, April 10th is…..   Pelicans 125 - Warriors 121

The Pelicans have no reason to rest anyone.  They will sit Ingram because his hammy tightness is real… but after that everyone should play… That is because they know it will be all over by the middle of next week.

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The Total has gone Under in 7 of Golden State's last 8 road games in New Orleans.
The Pelicans are 8-4 ATS in their last 12 games.
The Total has gone Under in 6 of New Orleans' last 8 games this season.

Warriors: SG Klay Thompson (rest) Quest ** PF Draymond Green (rest) Quest ** C James Wiseman (knee) Out ** PG Stephen Curry (foot) Out 

Pelicans: SF Brandon Ingram (hammy) Quest ** PF Zion Williamson (done) Out ** PG Kira Lewis JR (knee) Out

Warriors: SF Andrew Wiggins, PF Otto Porter Jr, C Kevon Looney, SG Jordan Poole, PG Gary Payton II

Pelicans: PF Herbert Jones, PF Jaxson Hayes, C Jonas Valanciunas, SG CJ McCollum, PG Devonte Graham

Warriors: Steve Kerr

Pelicans: Willie Green