Golden State @ New Orleans preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 9, 2019 ) Golden State 112, New Orleans 103

After years of dominance in the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors have barely been able to put up a fight through their first two games this season. They will try to crack into the win column for the first time in 2019-20 when they visit the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday in the second half of a back-to-back.

Following an ugly 141-122 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in its opener, Golden State was throttled 120-92 at Oklahoma City on Sunday, as newcomer D'Angelo Russell was ejected after 22 lackluster minutes and the team shot 32.6 percent from the floor while struggling mightily on the defensive end in a second straight wire-to-wire loss. "We're playing a lot of young guys and so we're trying to build our identity as a team and that doesn't happen overnight," Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters. The Pelicans have lost three single-digit games to begin the season despite averaging 120.3 points. They scored 76 points in the middle two quarters at Houston on Saturday before fading down the stretch and falling 126-123 to the Rockets.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBATV, NBCS Bay Area (Golden State), FS New Orleans

ABOUT THE WARRIORS (0-2): Steph Curry scored 23 points in Sunday's loss but no other Golden State player had more than 10, and the team hit only five of its 33 tries from 3-point range. Rookie guard Jordan Poole has yet to find his stroke and is 3-for-22 from the floor on the season. Power forward Kevin Looney (hamstring) missed the contest and will not be back until Wednesday against Phoenix, at the earliest, while guard Alec Burks (ankle) also sat out Sunday.

ABOUT THE PELICANS (0-3): Guard Josh Hart got the start in Houston with Jrue Holiday (knee) sidelined and responded with 23 points in 34 minutes. Brandon Ingram bumped his scoring average to 27.3 with 35 points in the setback while Lonzo Ball chipped in 18 and 10 assists, but there were just not enough stops on the other end for New Orleans to survive. "We're a work in progress," coach Alvin Gentry told reporters. "I loved the effort that we played with and thought we did a really good job. We put ourselves in a position to win against a really good team."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Ball has 20 assists against three turnovers through the first three games.

2. Warriors PF Omari Spellman finished with nine points, eight rebounds, three blocks, two steals and two assists off the bench Sunday.

3. Golden State has won 22 of the last 24 meetings, including all three last season.

PREDICTION: Pelicans 120, Warriors 115