Golden State Warriors have packed their bags and will spend their Friday evening taking on the Oklahoma City Thunder. This promises to be a great game, as the teams have split the season series so far, winning one game each. Both games were very close and were decided by just one point, with one of them also going into overtime.
Keys to the game/Players to watch
Off Eff: Warriors: 103.5 (14th) Thunder: 106.0(7th)
Def Eff: Warriors 99.1 (4th) Thunder: 98 (3rd)
Kevin Durant
Fortunately for the Warriors, Westbrook will not be playing. In the previous two games Russell terrorized the Warriors’ defense with 34 and 31 points. In the last 11 games without Westbrook, Durant has taken over the show. Over that span, he is putting up over 34 points per game, including two 48-point outbursts. He has come out and said that he needs to get his teammates involved more and that he is taking too many shots, but that is just silly and if the Dubs can limit Durant’s looks and force him to give the ball up, they’ll likely be in a good position to win the game.
Serge Ibaka
With Westbrook out, Ibaka is next in line after Durant in the food chain and he was great in the two previous games against the Warriors. In Thunder’s last game he almost single-handedly fended off all penetration into the paint and kept the Rockets to just 19 points in all of the second half.
Injuries
Thunder
Russell Westbrook (Out)
Warriors
Nemanja Nedovic (Out)
Festus Ezeli (Out)
Jermaine O’Neal (Out)
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