NBA Matchups: March 3

GSW @ CHA | POR @ PHI | WAS @ MIA | ATL @ MEM | HOU @ OKC | SAC @ DAL | DET @ UTA

Golden State Warriors (front end) at Charlotte Hornets

Team Totals: Warriors 119, Hornets 107

Injury Report: Jimmy Butler (P, back), Jonathan Kuminga (O, ankle), Quinten Post (P, ankle), Miles Bridges (P, illness), Seth Curry (P, back), Wendell Moore (O, concussion)

Warriors projected starters: Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green

Hornets projected starters: LaMelo Ball, Nick Smith Jr., Josh Green, Miles Bridges, Mark Williams

Kerr quotes: Said he cut Curry’s minutes because they have three in four nights, let a reporter have it for talking about the NBA Finals and how they have to make the playoffs first.

Lee quotes: Said they had some bad habits on offense and it led to some easy baskets for the Wizards, said Mark Williams just needs more reps and they’re trying to play him more, said they’re not frustrated that the Wizards have beaten them four times, said Malachi Flynn gave them good minutes in his season debut.

Stats and Notes:

*The Warriors finally lost, but no Jimmy Butler was a huge factor. With Jimmy in, they had covered the spread in all of their wins, and they get a Hornets team that they beat 128-92 at home on Feb. 25. The Warriors have a +13.4 net rating with Jimmy on the court (+14.6 with Draymond) and just look like a different team when he’s out there. Even with the smaller lineups, the Warriors have been able to limit more rim scoring as usual, while their transition defense has been slightly worse. The Hornets look like the worst team in basketball and their offense is absolutely putrid right now. In their last five games, they have a 93.1 O rating and a 75.7 halfcourt O rating for by far the worst in the league (Dallas 105.2 29th).

*Stephen Curry gets to face his brother with his dad on the call for the Hornets’ broadcast, and I’d imagine his mom is there for all the narratives. Kerr did say that they want to be careful with Steph’s minutes, and they were trying to shorten him on Saturday before the Warriors tried to go for it in Philly. This doesn’t feel like an ideal spot with so much blowout concern.

*While the Warriors have been winning with Jimmy Butler, his stats aren’t all that great at just a 20.6 usage rate for a 16/6/6 stat line over 30.1 minutes per game. He’s been pretty bad on the ball at just a 30.8 eFG% as a PNR handler, and it’s really just been transition that’s boosted his efficiency. With the blowout concerns, this isn’t really it.

*Draymond Green’s matchup should be extremely favorable if the Hornets do put Mark Williams on him. Dray should be wide open for several 3PAs today.

*LaMelo Ball has been in the lineup for three of these dreadful offensive performances, and he’s averaged just 12.7 points per game. The matchups weren’t that great for him against Bilal Coulibaly, Toumani Camara, and a Kings defense that pressures lead handlers. His matchup today isn’t great either against one of the league’s best PNR handler defenses that won’t create too many mismatch advantages for him. Plus, he was limited on minutes on Saturday, and might be again today.