The Golden State Warriors look to complete a revenge trifecta Friday night when they host the Charlotte Hornets in San Francisco.
Stephen Curry scored 24 points as the Warriors won on the road against the Indiana Pacers 111-107 on Wednesday night, avenging a home loss to the Eastern Conference club in January.
The Warriors extracted a similar measure of revenge one night earlier against the New York Knicks, and now get a shot at the Hornets, who stunned Golden State with a late comeback for a 102-100 home win last Saturday.
As Golden State attempts to win a third straight game for the first time this season, the Hornets have given no indication they will be a gracious guest.
Charlotte has opened a six-game trip by splitting a pair against two of the West's top teams, losing 132-110 at Utah on Monday before holding off Phoenix 124-121 on Wednesday.
Former California prep whiz LaMelo Ball will be making his first appearance in his home state as an NBA rookie after contributing 20 points and eight assists to the Hornets' win over the Suns.
Ball, who attended Chino Hills High in Southern California, had seven points and seven assists against the Warriors last week. The hero of the win was backcourt mate Terry Rozier, who beat the buzzer from the left corner for the game-winning hoop to cap a 36-point night.
It wasn't one of Ball's more impressive efforts of the season, but Curry has been impressed nonetheless.
"He's playing amazing," the All-Star starter gushed recently. "There was a lot of talk about what he could show his rookie year. He's surprising a lot of people."
The third pick in the 2020 draft, Ball didn't get a chance to go head-to-head with No. 2 overall selection James Wiseman of the Warriors in the earlier meeting. Wiseman sat out the game with a sprained wrist but has since returned from an 11-game absence to average 12.5 points on 11-for-17 shooting in Golden State's wins over New York and Indiana.
Wiseman has re-emerged as a backup, with Kevon Looney having returned from a 10-game absence for the last two wins as well.
The 19-year-old Wiseman, who attended Warriors games even when he could not play, said this week watching coach Steve Kerr's concepts from the sidelines has helped him find his way early in his NBA career.
He added that being able to observe the start of games from the sidelines has been a benefit as well.
"I look at it as a learning experience," he said of coming off the bench. "It's nothing bad at all, just due to the fact that we're figuring the rotations and stuff. But everything's coming together. I'm most definitely learning over there (on the bench) more, so it's really helpful for my development as a basketball player."
While the Hornets will be seeking their first two-game winning streak since Feb. 7-8 against Washington and Houston, the Warriors will be attempting to end an oddity: Through their first 33 games, the Warriors have no three-game winning or losing streaks.
Golden State's two-game winning streak is its eighth of the season.
--Field Level Media
