Warriors at Thunder
THE STORY: After playing nine of their last 11 games on the road, the Oklahoma City Thunder will kick off a five-game homestand. That spells bad news for the rest of the league, and particularly for Friday night's opponents, the Golden State Warriors. The Thunder are a Western Conference-best 10-1 at home and have beaten the Warriors five straight times in Oklahoma City. Oh, and the Thunder have also won twice at Golden State in the past three weeks.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSBA, FSOK
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (11-15): Golden State’s three-game winning streak was snapped in a home loss to Portland on Wednesday. Leading scorer Monta Ellis sat out the fourth quarter (flu) and was limited to only 10 points. Ellis torched Oklahoma City for a career-high 48 points in a three-point loss on Feb. 7. Forward David Lee had his second career triple-double in the same game. Lee has put together three straight double-doubles after scoring a season-high 29 points and grabbing 11 rebounds Wednesday.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (22-7): Kevin Durant missed three potential game-winning shots in the final 16 seconds of Wednesday’s one-point loss at Houston. He has lit up the Warriors for 70 points in the two wins this season and is averaging 31.4 points in 16 career games against Golden State. Point guard Russell Westbrook has also been a nightmare matchup for the Warriors, averaging 29.5 points and 9.0 assists this season. However, he’s also committed 16 turnovers in the two games.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Thunder starting guard Thabo Sefolosha has been sidelined 10 straight games due to a sore right foot.
2. Warriors G Stephen Curry is averaging only 10.3 points and shooting 32.4 percent in his last three games.