NBA: Golden State Warriors at Utah Jazz

The Warriors are riding a eight game winning streak and today they visit the Oklahoma City Thunder. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are fighting to get back into the playoff picture, so they will be hungry to get a win against a team that’s already beaten them three times this season.

-== Warriors Forming A Different Kind of Big Three ==-

The Warriors are favored coming into this game, but they will be without some key players. According to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Warriors will be without Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala when they face the Thunder:

After OKC, the Warriors travel to Houston to take on the Rockets. After that the come back home to Oracle to host the Nuggets and Rockets. Four difficult match-ups in a row and Steve Kerr is prioritizing his player’s health. This is a long season and the Warriors need to enter the post-season at full strength.

Kerr is taking a page out of the Greg Popovich’s handbook and giving his veteran players time to rest those old bones. The NBA season is a marathon, not a sprint, so while the Warriors want to protect that top seed, protecting the health of their players is most important. Yes, the Warriors will miss Bogut and Iguodala tonight, but they are deep enough to still get a win.