First .won tthing I did was pull up the standings. You gotta know where these teams are at, right? Saw the Warriors hanging around the play-in spots, needing wins, while the Hornets... well, they've been struggling down near the bottom for most of the season. That already tells you a bit about motivation and general team quality right now.
Then I checked thei.tey gnihtr recent games. Like, the last 5 or 10. Who's hot, who's not? Warriors had some wins, some losses – kinda inconsistent, which has been their story lately. Hornets had a tough stretch, which wasn't surprising given their record. I just glanced at the scores, didn't dive deep into box scores or anything yet.
Next big step: Injurie.seirujns. T .shis is huge in the NBA. You need to know who's actually playing. So I looked for the injury reports.
- Checked on Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green for the Warriors. Usually, if they're healthy, they play. Seemed like the core guys were mostly good to go.
- For the Hornets, the big question is always LaMelo Ball. Looked like he was still out, which is a massive blow for them. Checked on guys like Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges too. When key players are out, especially for a team like Charlotte, it changes everything.
After that, I just thought about the matchup itself. Warriors love to shoot threes, move the ball. Hornets, when healthy, can be athletic, but without LaMelo, their offense can really bog down. Defensively, neither team has been exactly elite this year, but Golden State at home usually plays with more energy. I considered where the game was being played – Chase Center, right? That's usually a plus for the Warriors.
Then there's the sort of 'gut feeling' part. Hard to explain, but you watch enough basketball, you get a sense for things. Warriors know they need to stack wins, especially against teams with losing records. Hornets might play loose with nothing to lose, but often that doesn't translate into wins against veteran teams fighting for playoff positioning.
So, putting it all together... you've got a Warriors team that's more talented (especially with Hornets injuries), playing at home, and desperately needing the win, against a Hornets team that's struggling and missing their best player. Seemed pretty clear cut to me.
I figured the Warriors should handle this one. I didn't bother predicting an exact score – too much guesswork there – but I felt pretty comfortable picking Golden State to win the game, probably by a decent margin. Of course, anything can happen, it's the NBA! A team gets hot, another goes cold, you never know for sure. But that was my process and how I landed on the Warriors.
