Thunder at Warriors: Pregame Primer

Royce Young -

vs.

OKC Thunder (34-18, 16-10 road) at Golden State Warriors (23-29, 17-11 home)

TV: ESPN (Cox 29, HD 720; FSOK (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 754)
Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 7:00 CT

Offensive Rating: Thunder – 110.4 (5th), Warriors – 107.9 (12th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 108.4 (17th), Warriors – 111.3 (28th)
Pace: Thunder – 93.0 (12th), Warriors – 94.8 (4th)

View from the enemy: Warriors World

I’ll be up front: I don’t feel good about this one. The Thunder’s coming off a more-difficult-than-it-should’ve-been win last night in Sacramento. The Warriors are pretty good at home. And Oklahoma City has been prone to give up bunches of points. All of that combined makes me feel a bit uneasy.

However, as good as OKC has been offensively and as bad as Golden State is defensively, I kind of have a hard time picturing the Warriors stopping the Thunder much at all. All that’s going to slow OKC down is if they’re missing open shots. Because they’re going to get the looks.

Golden State coming in: The Warriors have won four of six and last played Thursday, losing at Phoenix. At home though, they’re really good at 17-11.

THE MATCHUPS
Monta Ellis and Russell Westbrook will probably guard each other, but Thabo Sefolosha will  switch between Ellis and Stephen Curry.  The Warrior backcourt is small, but extremely talented and speedy. Most  of Golden State’s offense hinges on Curry and Ellis so the Thunder has  to like they have two quality defenders guarding the Warriors main  options.

David Lee is a good pick-and-roll/pick-and-pop power forward, but Jeff Green actually matches up OK there. There’s no overwhelming size difference and really, Green should have an edge athletically. However, I do hope to see some big lineups from OKC with Serge Ibaka and Nick Collison because I think the Thunder can dominate the boards with them.

Dorell Wright has been a nice surprise for the Warriors with his outside scoring, but he’ll have his hands full against Kevin Durant. Especially since not only was KD rolling late last night, but also that he’s looking to wash his hands of those two free throws. And that he normally torches the Warriors.

Again, I just don’t feel great about the Thunder’s overall chances. OKC is a better team and overall, I feel like the matchups favor the Thunder almost across the board, but with the way the Warriors score, I worry.

Tip at 7:00 CT. Go Go.