The Golden State Warriors start their title defense on Tuesday night when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans. Golden State finished first in the Western Conference last season on their way to the championship while New Orleans snuck into the eighth spot and were swept by the Warriors in the first round.
The Pelicans come into the regular season ravaged by injuries and they will not have a regular looking starting lineup on Tuesday. Jrue Holiday will likely start but he is expected to be on a strict minutes limit at the beginning of the year as he has been dealing with leg issues. Tyreke Evans, Norris Cole, Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca will all not play in this game and will miss varying amounts of time. Evans is out 6-8 weeks and Cole is out indefinitely but Ajinca and Asik aren't expected to miss too much time.
With Cole out, look for Nate Robinson to get the bulk of the time at point guard behind Holiday. Kendrick Perkins is expected to start at center with the Pelicans first two centers out and he will likely be backed up by Anthony Davis who new head coach Alvin Gentry has said will play more at center this season. Davis is coming off a tremendous season and he is expected to be in the MVP running this year. His play and health will determine whether the Pelicans can get back to the playoffs again in the loaded Western Conference.
Gentry was the Warriors associate head coach last season and is now the head coach in New Orleans. He will be coaching against Luke Walton who has taken over as the Warriors interim head coach while Steve Kerr recovers from back surgery.
The Warriors return this season with the same cast of characters as last year's team that won 67 games and they are relatively healthy. The only injury worth mentioning, other than Kerr's, is Andrew Bogut's broken nose but he has been practicing and is expected to play with a mask.
Stephen Curry is coming off an MVP season and the team still feels that they have something to prove as not many people are picking them to win the championship this season after dominating the league a year ago.
Draymond Green got his big contract this offseason but both Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli are not expected to meaning they will become restricted free agents at the end of the year.
In the finals last year Andre Iguoudala moved into the starting lineup and was very effective but the Warriors are expected to go with their usual starting lineup of Barnes and Klay Thompson on the wings to start this season.
Since Davis entered the league the Pelicans have not won a game at Oracle Arena in seven tries and they will have to try to do so on Tuesday night shorthanded.
Warriors projected starting lineup: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, Andrew Bogut
Pelicans projected starting lineup" Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon, Dante Cunningham, Anthony Davis, Kendrick Perkins
The game tips off at 10:30 P.M. Eastern time and to watch the live broadcast go here. For the Warriors radio broadcast go here and for the Pelicans radio broadcast go here.
