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Behind the Numbers presented by HUB International: Pelicans at Warriors (2/23/20)

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SAN FRANCISCO – A look at three key numbers related to Sunday’s game at Chase Center between New Orleans and Golden State (7:30 p.m. Central, NBA TV, Fox Sports New Orleans, ESPN New Orleans 100.3 FM):

10-3: New Orleans road record since Dec. 23, tied with Milwaukee for the league’s fourth-best away record during that span. In a stretch that began with a Dec. 23 road triumph at Portland and continued through Friday’s victory on the same Trail Blazers home floor, the Pelicans have been incredibly successful in other arenas. It’s been a dramatic turnaround from early in the season, given that New Orleans dropped to just 3-12 on the road when it lost 106-102 at Golden State on Dec. 20. The only squads that have been better in the past two months road-wise are Oklahoma City (12-1), the Lakers (9-2) and Toronto (11-3). In addition, of the three Pelicans road defeats in the past two months, all came against very formidable hosts, including the Lakers (19-7 at Staples Center), Boston (23-5 at TD Garden) and Houston (19-8 at Toyota Center). The 10-3 stretch away from home is one of the best in New Orleans franchise history.

1, 4: Rank among the 30 NBA teams in assists per game since Christmas for New Orleans and Golden State, respectively. Although the Pelicans (16-9 since Dec. 25) and Warriors (5-20) have very different results in the win column over those past two months, a common trait is their knack for sharing the ball and creating open shots for teammates. New Orleans is averaging 28.7 assists over its past 25 games, while Golden State dishes out 26.9 over the same span. The Warriors are a distinct outlier in being such an effective passing team but struggling record-wise, because among the top nine teams in assist average since Christmas, only two of those clubs have a losing mark – and Indiana is barely under .500 at 12-13. Dating all the way back to the beginning of the regular season, New Orleans ranks third in the NBA in assists per game (26.5), while Golden State is No. 12 at 25.2. In a statistical oddity, the NBA’s top five assist teams are all from the Western Conference (Memphis leads the league at 27.2), but the squads ranked 6-11 are all Eastern clubs (Milwaukee is sixth at 26.2).

62: Points scored by Warriors players in their Dec. 20 home win over New Orleans who are no longer on Golden State’s roster, or are unavailable to play Sunday. It was quite an adjustment at the outset of the 2019-20 season to familiarize one’s self with the various unproven names on the court playing for the five-time defending Western Conference champions (and three-time NBA titlists last decade), but the Warriors have also undergone a major in-season transformation. D’Angelo Russell poured in 25 points in the Dec. 20 matchup vs. New Orleans and was particularly clutch in the fourth quarter, but he was traded at the deadline to Minnesota. Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson combined for 27 points and have been traded to Philadelphia; Draymond Green tallied 10 points but is sidelined Sunday by injury. In other words, four of the Warriors’ five leading scorers from Dec. 20 won’t be on the hardwood tonight. One player still in the mix is guard Damion Lee, who posted 20-plus points in both Golden State victories vs. New Orleans this season.

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