The Golden State Warriors travel to The Big Easy to play the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center on Sunday.

The Warriors (2-11) played one of their best games of the season on Friday but it was yet another loss. The simple fact is, this team has too much talent on its sidelines to compete in the NBA. Not having Klay Thompson coming into the year was a big detriment but losing Stephen Curry in the opening week made it impossible for this team to compete. What's really disturbing is the fact that D'Angelo Russell left that loss on Friday with a hand injury. He's expected to sit out about two weeks and that's an absolute disaster if he misses any more time than that. In all these player's absences, it's up to guys like Eric Paschall, Ky Bowman and Jordan Poole to run the show.

The Pelicans (3-9) are one of the biggest disappointments in the NBA but they've been bitten by the injury bug pretty badly themselves. Losing Zion Williamson in the preseason was a huge bummer but he's not the only one. Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram are currently out too and that's really distressing with Ingram playing at an All-Star level this season. That has turned a hopeful season into another ugly one and that's become way too common for this team over recent years. The good news is that they have the pieces to get out of this hole and it'll be interesting to see all of these players play with one another when that day eventually comes. Unfortunately, J.J. Redick, Frank Jackson and Derrick Favors are all nicked up too and it's a wonder who will be able to play here for New Orleans.

Golden State has dominated this series ever since the Pelicans were named the Hornets. In fact, the Warriors have won 24 of their last 26 games against this franchise in total dating back to 2012.