I wonder if Kobe misses the original young fella.
Warriors (7-5) @ Lakers (11-2)
TV: CSN Bay Area | Radio: KNBR 680
Tip-Off: 6:30pm
Blog Buddy: Silver Screen and Roll
SB Nation: Bay Area vs Los Angeles
Not only is it football Sunday in the Yay Area (see Niners Nation and Silver and Black Pride), but on the hardwood it's the Bay vs LA. It doesn't get any better than this! (Check back with me around 930pm to see if I'm still saying that.)
Over at our brother site LA Lakers blog Silver Screen and Roll these words were said in their preview for tonight's festivity:
Though they're undoubtedly improved over last year's disaster, the Warriors aren't as good as their record and aren't a team that's going to give the Lakers trouble at Staples, provided the champs don't completely mail it in.
It pains me to say it, but they're probably right.
JUMP for the matchups and predictions!
Matchups
Point Guard
Stephen Curry vs Derek Fisher. We're not even going there.
Edge: Warriors
Shooting Guard
Player A: 26.1 ppg (43.0% FG, 31.2% 3pt, 87.9% FT), 6.3 rpg, 4.8 apg (3.2 tov), 1.1 stl
Player B: 27.7 ppg, (52.1% FG, 37.0% 3pt, 73.5% FT), 4.0 rpg, 4.8 apg (3.3 tov), 2.6 stl
Edge: Player B (slightly)
Player A = Kobe Bryant, Player B = Monta Ellis. And no I'm not crazy. Kobe is better than Monta especially defesively when he want to, but we're talking about tonight. Tonight I think Monta will give more.
Small Forward
I love what Dorell Wright is giving the Warriors thus far this season. 15-5-3 with over 40% shooting from downtown plus a pick and a swat nightly are fantastic contributions from GM Larry Riley's offseason find. I love Ron Artest (good ol' Ron-Ron), but there's nothing too impressive about his stats this season. I haven't watched enough Laker games this season to tell if his contributions of the defensive side of the ball are making up for that, so I could be wrong here. Still I feel confident saying...
Edge: Warriors
Power Forward
This matchup is a lot closer if it's David Lee vs Lamar Odom. Sadly it's not that matchup with Lee's infected elbow. Even sadder is that the matchup is former Laker Vladimir Radmanovic vs Odom. Maybe it's funny for the Lakers?
Edge: Lakers
Center
Sadly this isn't even close. I remember the days when then Memphis Grizzlie Pau Gasol was on the trading block and some delusional fans weren't willing to part with Andris Biedrins in a trade for him.
What.
A.
Joke.
Edge: Lakers
The Bench
Wouldn't Steve Blake, Matt Barnes, and Shannon Brown look good in Dubs jerseys? They'd make an excellent bench for the Dubs. Arguably the Warriors biggest weakness right now is their bench. It sill puzzles me why the team picked up Brandan Wright's 4th year option a year ago right after it was announced he would be out of the season.
Edge: Lakers
Predictions
- Monta has more points than Kobe.
- Steph has more dimes than that floppin' Fish.
- Lamar Odom flirts with a triple double.
- Pau Gasol gets 25-12-5.
- Former Warrior Matt Barnes is not perfect again. Don't be surprised if he walks away with several turnovers with the Warriors deflection D.
- The Lake-Show wins the battle of the boards by at least 7.
- I save you all from an another combined points prediction that conflicts with my final win prediction, which is...
- Warriors by 1
Poll
Who would you rather have on your hoops squad?
This poll is closed
-
72%
Pau Gasol
-
11%
Andris Biedrins
-
15%
I love these absurd polls from Mr. I Told You So!