The Warriors broke their three-game losing streak with a one-point win against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night— the game ended 102-101.
18-year veteran Jermaine O’Neal—who has been out for four games with a groin injury, knee injury and viral infection—felt obligated to come to the Warriors’ rescue. They were playing without Andrew Bogut, who was suspended for a game after his role in the brawl with Portland on Saturday. O’Neal played his best game of the season so far, scoring a season-high 18 points and grabbing eight rebounds
Tuesday’s game was a nail-biter, with both teams trading the lead back and forth throughout most of the fourth quarter. O’Neal made a hook shot with 2:06 left in the fourth quarter, putting Golden State up 102-99, but with 47.2 seconds left Anthony Davis made a shot to bring New Orleans within one. Luckily for the Warriors, whose shots weren’t falling—they didn’t make a basket for the final 2 minutes—the Pelicans didn’t score again.
Golden State (9-6) continues their four-game road trip on Wednesday with a matchup against the Dallas Mavericks (9-6) and former Warrior Monta Ellis. Ellis will be the player the Warriors need to stop, and they’ll have to defend him to best of their ability. The former Warriors star has been averaging 26.8 points on 55 percent shooting in his last five games.
Golden State’s newest star, Stephen Curry, has been uncharacteristically making just 37.8 percent of his shots in his last five games. Unless Curry’s shots start falling again, they’ll have to look to Klay Thompson, who led the team with 22 points on Tuesday. Andrew Bogut will be back for Wednesday night’s game against the Mavericks, although Andre Iguodala will still be out with a sprained hamstring. Harrison Barnes will be starting at small forward in Iguodala’s place.
The Warriors have struggled in back-to-back games recently, and they’re being outscored by an average of 13.7 points on the second night of back-to-back games this season. These are two good teams, but Dallas has the benefit of home-court advantage—the Mavericks are 7-1 at home on the year. Golden State hasn’t won on the second night of a back-to-back game this season, but with Andrew Bogut back in action, we’ll see if the Warriors will be able to break another losing streak.
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