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Hornets-Warriors Preview
New Orleans Hornets at Golden State Warriors
- New Orleans has won six of its last nine trips to Golden State including a 2-0 record at Golden State last season.
- The Hornets suffered another close loss against Portland (95-94) on Sunday pushing their losing streak to seven straight contests.
- Golden State went 6-1 on its seven game road trip, the Warriors best road trip of at least seven games in franchise history.
- David Lee averaged 23.6 points per game on 59.5 percent shooting during the Warriors seven game-road trip. Lee has scored at least 20 points in each of his last eight games, the fourth longest active streak in the NBA.
- Ryan Anderson is averaging 8.0 three-point attempts per game this season, the most in the league (Klay Thompson is second with 7.0 and Stephen Curry is fourth with 6.4).
- The Warriors are 6-3 at home this season and will be looking for their first 7-3 start at home since 2006-07.
By ALAN FERGUSON
(AP) -- Following one of the most successful road trips in team history, the Golden State Warriors are eager to keep proving they're one of the elite teams in the Western Conference.
The Warriors will try to avoid losing their edge during a home-heavy stretch that begins Tuesday night against the conference's last-place team, the New Orleans Hornets.
After losing to Orlando on Friday, Golden State (16-8) bounced back the next day with a 115-93 victory over Atlanta to cap a 6-1 trip. The Warriors won six games on a road trip for the first time in franchise history and finished above .500 on a trek of seven games or longer for the first time in 42 years.
"It was important for us to do that to show that we're for real and we're going to be here for the long haul," coach Mark Jackson said.
David Lee had his seventh consecutive game Saturday with at least 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Stephen Curry had 18 points, 11 assists and eight boards.
"It was a big win for us," Curry said. "We're excited to get home and looking forward to Tuesday when we play New Orleans. Hopefully, we can keep the momentum rolling.
The Warriors will play eight of their next 11 at Oracle Arena and would appear to have a good chance to get that stretch off to a winning start as the Hornets (5-18) arrive in Oakland having lost 16 of 18 and seven in a row.
They missed an opportunity to end that skid Sunday after Portland rookie Damian Lillard hit a 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds left to put the Trail Blazers up by three. New Orleans curiously didn't let Ryan Anderson try for a career high-tying eighth 3-pointer and instead had him pass to Lance Thomas for an alley-oop layup to end a 95-94 defeat.
"You need .04 to get the shot off, so we just ran a play for execution. There was not time for us to get a shot off, with them grabbing and holding Ryan it was going to be tough for him to get a shot off, so we were working on execution," coach Monty Williams said. "It was a situation where we worked on something we would need in the future."
Anderson finished with 26 points. Greivis Vasquez had 23 points and 11 assists, but No. 1 overall draft pick Anthony Davis was the only other player in double figures. Davis had 15 points, his best showing in four games since returning from an ankle injury.
Davis, who has been playing exclusively off the bench since coming back, will next try to help the Hornets avoid a season-high eighth straight defeat by leading them to their third win in a row over the Warriors.
Curry, though, missed both of those games because of an ankle injury, and Lee had to sit out an 83-81 loss April 24 with a strained groin and stress reaction.
Two New Orleans players who scored 20 points in a 102-87 win at Golden State on March 28 now play for the Warriors. Jarrett Jack is averaging 13.8 points and 5.3 assists off the bench over the last 10 games, while Carl Landry scored 19 points as a reserve Saturday.
The status of Golden State's starting center Festus Ezeli is unknown for this game because of a bruised knee, and Andris Biedrins could start in his place again.
Updated December 17, 2012
© 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press.Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
