Thunder at Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are not only unbeaten at home, they are barely being challenged in their own building. The Oklahoma City Thunder will attempt to change that when they visit the Warriors on Thursday. Golden State is 3-0 at home and has led each of those three home games by 29 points or more before coasting to the finish with the starters sitting on the bench relaxing.
Stephen Curry needed only 10 field goal attempts to score 25 points and put on a show Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons, including one sequence in which he completed a three-point play, drove the lane for a spinning reverse layup, buried a 3-pointer and found Harrison Barnes for a dunk to put the game well out of reach. The Thunder have a pair of players capable of the same type of scoring binges in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, but it was not good enough in a 111-103 loss at the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. Those two combined for 52 points and 20 assists but got little help from the supporting cast.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE THUNDER (5-2): Oklahoma City had its four-game winning streak come to an end in Los Angeles and had a weakness on the inside exposed when Serge Ibaka was ejected at the end of the first half. The Thunder were outscored 58-41 after the break, and not even Durant could bring them back in the fourth quarter. Oklahoma City built its early success against sub-par opponents and has yet to beat a team that made the playoffs last season, such as Golden State.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (5-3): Golden State brought in Andre Iguodala in the offseason to provide another ball handler in place of Curry and a defensive presence on the perimeter. “I think we just complement each other really well with what different guys bring to the table and how they complement the next guy,” Iguodala said of his quick bond with the rest of the starting five. “We’re having fun out there but we still understand we have a job to do and we want to be one of the top teams in the league come the end of April.” The veteran swingman is proving to be a capable passer and handed out 11 assists in the 113-95 victory over Detroit on Tuesday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Oklahoma City took three of the four meetings last season and has won seven of the last eight against the Warriors, averaging 116.9 points in those seven triumphs.
2. Thunder C Kendrick Perkins will miss the game following the death of his grandfather.
3. Golden State G Toney Douglas is out indefinitely with a stress reaction in his left tibia.