Warriors at Pelicans
The Golden State Warriors clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference in the home finale on Sunday and intend to rest players over the final two games of the regular season. The New Orleans Pelicans will be playing their season finale when they host the Warriors on Tuesday and are trying to close out strong with back-to-back victories.
The Pelicans last won consecutive games with a three-game streak to begin March but dropped 12 of the next 14 before fighting for a 133-129 victory at Sacramento on Sunday. New Orleans is headed for an uncertain offseason with superstar Anthony Davis trying to force his way out of town and is giving big minutes to players like Ian Clark, Jahlil Okafor and Christian Wood as they try to prove themselves worthy of being part of the franchise's future. The Warriors will have questions to answer once the offseason hits as well but for now are looking primed to win a third consecutive NBA title after knocking off the Los Angeles Clippers 131-104 on Sunday to push their latest winning streak to five straight and win the final regular season home game at Oracle Arena. "It was a really nice moment," Golden State coach Steve Kerr told reporters after speaking to the fans at the conclusion of the game. "All of the fans stuck around, which was great, but we're coming right back and playing Game 1 Saturday or Sunday. Hopefully, we'll have another send-off in a grander manner."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCS Bay Area (Golden State), FS New Orleans
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (56-24): Golden State plays at Memphis on Wednesday after leaving New Orleans and will give its stars a breather in one of the two remaining contests. "We're going to rest guys," Kerr told reporters. "But we haven't figured out exactly how we're going to do it. The most likely thing we'll do is take the probably eight guys who we want to rest, split them up four and four. Four of them will play one night of the back-to-back, four of them play the other. That's roughly what we're thinking." One player who doesn't seem to need a rest is power forward Draymond Green, who narrowly missed a triple-double in 30 minutes on Sunday while finishing with 10 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, five steals and three blocks in the win.
ABOUT THE PELICANS (33-48): New Orleans gave power forward Julius Randle the night off on Sunday and played with a short bench, opening up more minutes for the eight players in the rotation. Clark, a former Warriors guard, logged 36 minutes and scored 31 points while knocking down a career-high seven 3-pointers and going 11-of-21 from the floor. Point guard Elfrid Payton, who enjoyed a string of five straight triple-doubles last month, added 26 points and handed out 14 assists in Sunday's victory.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Warriors C Kevon Looney is 17-of-23 from the floor over the last four games.
2. Wood scored in double figures in five of seven games since joining New Orleans.
3. Golden State averaged 139 points in taking the first two meetings this season - both at home.