Golden State Warriors vs Oklahoma City Thunder Game Preview
By Andrew Ites
The Warriors will take on the Thunder for the third time this season as they try to avenge their blowout loss before the All-Star break.
The Warriors have struggled against Oklahoma City this season losing both of their previous meetings by a combined 47 points.
Golden State’s most recent loss to the Thunder was a wire-to-wire blowout at Oracle Arena, which was arguably the lowest point of the season as that signified the Warriors’ third loss in four games.
The Warriors looked like a different team after the All-Star break in Thursday night’s victory over the Clippers. They had their most impressive first quarter performance in a while as Steve Kerr decided to shake up the rotation by replacing Zaza Pachulia with JaVale McGee in the starting lineup.
McGee will be starting again when the Warriors face the Thunder in primetime on Saturday night. He’ll be tasked with slowing down Steven Adams, who scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the previous meeting between these two teams.
The Thunder are coming off of a buzzer-beater victory over the Kings, where it looked like they were already looking forward to their game against Warriors during the second half.
There probably aren’t any must-win games for Golden State during the regular season, but this is about as close as it gets. The Warriors can’t afford to drop three games against a team that they could face in the second round of the playoffs.
We’ll see if the All-Star break really made a difference by how well the Warriors perform on Saturday night.
Next: 3 Worst Contracts on the Warriors Roster
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Game Details
Golden State Warriors vs Oklahoma City Thunder
Tip-Off: Thursday, February 24, 2018 at 5:30 p.m. PST
Location: Oracle Arena, Oakland, California
TV: ABC
Radio: 95.7 The Game, Warriors Radio Network