NBA Matchups: March 29

Golden State Warriors at Charlotte Hornets

Team Totals: Warriors 116.8, Hornets 103.8

Injury Report: Jonathan Kuminga (Q, knee), Dario Saric (Q, knee), Davis Bertans (P, nose)

Warriors projected starters: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, the host of the Draymond Green Show Podcast

Hornets projected starters: Tre Mann, Vasilije Micic, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, Nick Richards

Kerr quotes: Said Draymond deserved to get ejected, said Moody really stepped up when Dray went out, said Steph didn’t have his best night but he hit the dagger, said Steph was emotional after the shot because the team needed a win, said Wiggins had a huge game for them.

Clifford quotes: Basically just talked about the crowd and how the Cavs played.

Stats and Notes: 

*The Hornets did it. For the first time since March 14, they scored 100 points against the Cavs on Wednesday in a surprising win. They’re still last in the league in offense since the break, but it was great to see them get 54 rim points for their most since Nov. 10 (vs. Washington). It’s probably not sticky, and the Warriors have generally protected the paint OK. For the Warriors, this has some major trap-game vibes after two massive wins in Miami and Orlando in a B2B. Their offense just hasn’t been there all year and they’re at 16th since the break. The Hornets are a pretty strong halfcourt D at seventh since the break, and the Warriors don’t really run with the fourth-lowest transition points per game. This game isn’t all that sexy. 

*Well, so much for the 30 minutes. Kerr played Stephen Curry 35 minutes against the Magic, but they had to do it with Draymond getting ejected. The Hornets are likely going to put Tre Mann on him, so it’s going to be easy buckets all night for Steph. He’ll see his family with Dell on the call and Seth on the bench, but Steph was actually terrible in this matchup at 15 points in 31 minutes. He also just doesn’t have that same pop, so I’m not too excited about him.

*Klay Thompson is fine, as he’ll likely draw some young legs in Brandon Miller. It’s a slightly positive matchup for him, and the minutes have been there in the first unit.

*The Jonathan Kuminga Q tag is pretty big. It sounds like it was just B2B-related, so I’d expect him to play. If he doesn’t, it’s such a smash for Trayce Jackson-Davis against a horrific C defense. Andrew Wiggins would also be more likely to get boosted minutes and could have some rim impact. If Kuminga goes, it’s kind of a smash with the terrible rim defense. Plus, the Hornets having bad transition D bodes well for him, too.

*Yeah, no thanks on the Hornets. The last time they played the Warriors they scored just 84 points, and I’m not buying their Wednesday game. Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller are also getting some tough matchups on the wings. The best matchups could be Tre Mann and Vasilije Micic.

Great matchups: Stephen Curry, Jonathan Kuminga, Trayce Jackson-Davis (if starting… fine off bench, too)

Good matchups: Klay Thompson 

Bad matchups: Miles Bridges (he crushes tough matchups a lot, though)

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Los Angeles Lakers at Indiana Pacers