What to watch with the Warriors this week: Time, TV, matchups as Westbrook calls
Durant sees an old friend, the Warriors head to Rip City and the Baby Lakers host the Dubs this week
By
Matt Moore
•
4 min read
The Warriors are the story to watch in the NBA this season, and their opening-night loss to the Spurs didn't change that. They remain appointment viewing, not only for their four All-NBA superstars, or their pursuit of last season's lofty 73 wins and a second championship in three years, but because of the intrigue surrounding how this team will work and what storylines will follow.
It didn't start the way many predicted, as the Spurs blew Golden State out by 29 points on opening night, and they haven't looked great since. Still, there's too much talent to keep this team down for long, and the drama of their actually being human makes them an even more compelling watch. Here's what to watch with the Warriors this week:
WARRIORS CHECK-IN
Record: 2-1
Scoring leader: Kevin Durant (31.13)
Assists leader: Draymond Green (7.3)
Rebounding leader: Draymond Green (12.0)
Last week: Lost to Spurs, defeated Pelicans and Suns (2-1)
GAMES THIS WEEK
When: Tuesday, 10 p.m. ET
Where: Moda Center Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon
TV: NBA TV
Streaming: None, unless through DirecTV or local cable app (check app for availability)
The cupcakes are over. The Warriors had two easy contests against the Pelicans and Suns over the weekend to get themselves back over .500. The Trail Blazers really, truly believe that they're a serious threat and that they can beat anyone, despite getting handled by the Clippers last week and having to steal one from Denver.
These two teams met in the playoffs without Stephen Curry, and because the Blazers were able to put up points on Golden State, many forecast them as a real threat. At full strength, the Blazers knocked off the Warriors last February, handing them one of their nine losses on the season, and racking up 137 points (!!!) on that tough defense as Damian Lillard put a cool 51 on them. The Rose Garden (I still will not call it the Moda Center) will be rocking and Lillard is playing like an MVP candidate.
The Warriors are going to need that A game that has been absent if they're going to improve to 3-1.
When: Thursday, 10:30 p.m. ET
Where: Oracle Arena in Oakland, California
TV: TNT
Streaming: TNT app, featuring TNT Overtime
Oh, man. K.D. sees his old team for the first time and Russell Westbrook comes to Oracle carrying multiple triple-doubles already. This is a super-narrative game, and emotions will be high. However, it's at Oracle, and the Thunder have struggled with the Sixers, Suns and Lakers until late. This should be an easy win for the Warriors ... but then so should the other games.
Expect a lot of pregame comments about how both sides have moved on, about how Westbrook isn't thinking about it, about it just being another game, but it could get chippy early on. And if the Warriors lose this game, at Oracle, somehow, it will be an unmitigated disaster.
When: Friday, 10:30 p.m. ET
Who: Los Angeles Lakers
Where: Staples Center in Los Angeles
TV: ESPN
Streaming: ESPN app
Another national TV game, but this time vs. the Baby Lakers on the road to complete a back-to-back. A short flight to face a team starting three players with fewer than three years' experience? That's about as soft as a back-t0-back gets.
This should be a fun one, though, as the Lakers' defense will give up huge highlights and runs to a Warriors team that has been looking for them. The Lakers have surprisingly hung with some decent teams early on. It's likely this turns into a rout, but it's a fun Friday night showcase at Staples, and there's a lot of offensive firepower.
KEEP AN EYE ON ...
Offensive rebounds: With the Warriors facing Steven Adams, Enes Kanter, Julius Randle and Timofey Mozgov, there's a lot of size for them to contend with for a squad that has really struggled to rebound to start.
Regression to the mean: The Warriors are ranked 24th in effective field goal percentage on unguarded catch-and-shoot opportunities. That's nuts. On Sunday, outside of Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, they went 1-for-17 from 3-point range. You have to believe that's going to level out, and if it does, the Warriors could go on a crazy shooting binge like we saw last season.
Emotions running high: Draymond Green said Sunday teams are trying to "punk" the Warriors and admitted the team is frustrated with its start. This group has always been emotionally volatile, and if Klay Thompson's shooting slump continues alongside the ongoing emotional fountain that is Green, you wonder how they'll respond. It'll either be great or terrible, very little in-between.
BIGGEST ONE-ON-ONE MATCHUP:
With all due respect to Damian Lillard, it's Russell Westbrook against Stephen Curry. Curry bounced back from a bad series to own Westbrook, especially defensively, in Games 6 and 7 of the Western Conference finals. Westbrook has been posting breakup songs all summer long while saying he doesn't care about what Durant did. He's averaging a triple-double while scoring 30 or more every game, while taking almost as many shots. Westbrook is a rumbling volcano, and how he approaches this matchup emotionally will be worth the price of admission.
