8:35 PM EST, ABC – Line: Golden State -3, Over/Under: 234
Curry has been simply otherworldly this year, leading the league in scoring (30.4), while on pace to shatter his record of 286 made three-pointers in a season.
The stars will be on display tonight at Chesapeake Energy Arena as the history-seeking Golden State Warriors travel to Oklahoma City to face the Thunder in a potential Playoff Preview. The prime story of this season has been the league-leading Warriors’ (52-5, 1st in Pacific Division) unrelenting pursuit of history, as they continue to stay on pace of the revered 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who went an NBA record 72-10 in the regular season before earning the first of championship three-peat during the 90’s. In fact, Steve Kerr’s (who played on that Bulls team) charges are actually one game ahead of Chicago’s pace through fifty-seven games, making the likelihood of them breaking one of the most hallowed records in the game a strong possibility with twenty-five games remaining on their schedule. With so many pundits taking their turn as to discerning when they may indeed drop a game, there is no doubt that tonight’s contest has been circled by an overwhelming majority of them for a multitude of reasons. First and foremost, it’s against the Thunder, a very quality opponent. Second, it’s on the road in a hostile environment that will be anticipating the arrival of the defending champions. Third, and perhaps most important, it marks the conclusion of lengthy seven-game road trip, which has seen the Dubs experience a few close calls (115-112 at Clippers, and 118-112 at Heat), and even lose (105-137 at Trail Blazers). In fact, these guys haven’t played a home game since the All Star Break wrapped up. Lastly, when last these rivals met, Oklahoma City very nearly dealt Steph Curry and Co. a rare defeat. In an odd affair that saw the Warriors establish a commanding 73-59 lead at Halftime, the visiting side put forth a furious rally, outscoring the home side 49-43 over the final two periods, even tying the game at 104 points apiece with 3:25 left to play, before Golden State ultimately prevailed in a 116-108 classic. That night marked one of the few occasions in which the Warriors shot below 50.0% from the field, netting 49.5% of their attempts, including an uncharacteristic 7-of-26 from beyond the arc (26.9%). Curry, for his efforts led the way with twenty-six points on a rough 10-of-26 shooting from the floor (38.5%), but filled up the stat sheet with six rebounds, ten assists, and three steals, while four other Warriors finished the night in double-figures. Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson scored nineteen and eighteen points respectively, while Marreese Speights had himself a day off the Bench, logging fifteen points on 6-of-10 shooting (60.0%), a pair of rebounds and assists, and one block. The biggest takeaway from the game, was how the Thunder managed to really make things hard for the Dubs on the perimeter, where they have been so devastating this season, yielding an Effective Field Goal Percentage (which is adjusted for the significance of three-pointers) of 53.1%, a noticeable drop from their league-best 56.3%. Of course, most teams would gladly take a 49.5% shooting performance in which they scored 116 points, but this is the Warriors we’re talking about, folks. There is a reason that they’re being mentioned as arguably the top offensive group in the long history of the NBA. Just look at the numbers; Kerr’s charges lead the league in scoring (115.3), field goals (42.6), three-point field goals (12.9), three-point field goal percentage (42.0%), two-point field goal percentage (52.6%), assists (29.1), and effective field goal percentage (56.3%), while ranking in the top-five in a plethora of other categories. As good as he way last year, Curry has clearly been better this season, leading the NBA in scoring (30.4) while shooting a blistering 46.1% from beyond the arc, along with 5.3 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and 2.1 steals, with a staggering 32.1 PER (Player Efficiency Rating). In fact, at 276 made three-point field goals, Curry is pace to shatter the record of 286 that he set last year. Hell, he could do it by next weekend!!! Just don’t expect him to break it tonight. Then again, stranger things have happened…
Westbrook exploded against the Pelicans, scoring a game-high 44 points, to go along with 4 rebounds, and 9 assists.
Meanwhile, it’s not often that a third-place team is eleven-and-a-half games out of first, but that is precisely where the Thunder (41-17, 1st in Northwest Division) have found themselves. In fact, they’re eight games out of second-place, which is a testament to the two teams in front of them, the San Antonio Spurs and their opponent tonight, the Warriors. After missing the Playoffs for the first time in five years, and undergoing a coaching change as a result, Oklahoma City has taken the appearance of a desperate team that knows that it is working against the clock; as has become customary in today’s league, Kevin Durant’s impending Free Agency has garnered nearly as much talk as his team’s play, which has been greatly overshadowed by the excellence of the two teams mentioned earlier. While Durant and Russell Westbrook rarely enjoyed much court time together last season (further hastening chatter of their imminent exodus), there is a real sense of dread with each passing game, as many around the league consider their proverbial window of opportunity nearly closed. However, judging by the effort shown in their previous meeting with Golden State, there is a clear argument to be made that they could in fact be a solid dark horse candidate to come out of the Western Conference should either the Warriors or Spurs falter. In their narrow loss back on February 6th, the Thunder came oh so close of handing the defending champs their fifth loss of the season on the strength of a tremendous defensive performance that in the second half confounded one of the most offenses that the league has ever seen. However, as great as they played at the defensive end, Billy Donovan’s charges left a lot to be desired when possessing the basketball, particularly in the first half. On the game, Oklahoma City shot just 42.4% from the floor, including 7-of-22 from beyond the arc (31.8%), well below their standards on the season. Fifteen turnovers didn’t help their cause either, but where they did make some serious headway was at the charity stripe. The Free-Throw Line has been awfully kind to this team in the past, and this game was no different, as they made a whopping 29-of-37 attempts (78.4%), with all of their twenty-two freebies. Scoring with the clock stopped is a sure-fire why of slowing down even the most explosive offenses, as the visiting side outscored the hosts in this manner by a sizable sixteen points. However, after tying the contest with just over three minutes left to play, the Thunder were outscored 12-to-4 the rest of the way, missing their final five attempts from the field in that span. Perhaps it was simply a case of running out of gas or peaking too early, but whatever the case, the message taken away from that night was that these guys could definitely run with the Dubs, which should give them plenty of confidence in tonight’s rematch. After all, anytime you have a healthy combination of Durant and Westbrook on the floor together, you have a chance to beat ANYONE. If the much-discussed Durant does in fact choose to explore his options in Free Agency this Summer, there will be no shortage of suitors for his services, as he has averaged a robust 27.7 points on 50.8% shooting from the field, including 38.8% from three, along with 8.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.2 blocks with a PER of 28.0. Not far off is Westbrook, who has emerged as arguably the league’s top Point Guard, or certainly it’s most explosive one; the stat-stuffer has averaged 24.3 points on 46.4% shooting, including 30.5% from downtown, along with 7.5 rebounds, 10.2 assists, and 2.2 steals, with a team-high PER of 29.2. However, the question that has long plagued this team, and was really exploited last season, was their quality depth, which simply doesn’t compare to their deep, talent-laden counterparts in Golden State and San Antonio. Outside of Durant and Westbrook, the likes of Dion Waiters, Enes Kanter, Stevan Adams, DJ Augustin, and Kyle Singler hardly strike fear in the hearts’ of their opponents, while Serge Ibaka just hasn’t developed as much as you’d like on the offensive end over the past three years. Veteran Guard Randy Foye was acquired at the Trade Deadline to add depth to the Backcourt, but that isn’t likely to get these guys over the hump. As we’ve seen since they’ve emerged from the All-Star Break, losing three out of four outings, this is weakness that doesn’t appear to be remedied anytime soon, which doesn’t bode well for their championship aspirations. But hey, that means more shots for Durant and Westbrook…
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