Golden State Warriors vs LA Clippers- Bigger than Super Bowl XLVIII! No Diggity. No Doubt.

Warriors (27-19) vs Clippers (32-15)

TV: TNT | Radio: KNBR 680

Tip-Off: 7:30pm PST

Arena: ROARACLE

Blog Buddy: Clips Nation

Now this is what TNT Thursday is all about. Even with my admitted Dub Nation bias, I'd rate this as the best rivalry in the NBA right now. Sure they haven't met in the playoffs yet, but over the past 2 years when the current incarnations of the Warriors and Clippers square off, they mean business.

The media (I guess that includes me at this point) likes to blow things out of proportion just to find a nice, juicy story line. When there's a good rivalry media types like to quickly resort to a "these two teams really don't like each other" angle. At least when it comes to the front courts of these two teams, this might be a case where that's actually true at least on the hardwood. There seems to be a very vivid, full-on physical and mental battle between Warriors big man tandem Andrew Bogut/ David Lee and Lob City big men DeAndre Jordan/ Blake Griffin.

Lee doesn't seem to enjoy Griffin's tactics very much.

via gifrific.com

Shoot, I was worried Bogut and Griffin were going to go at it on Xmas Day!

Make no mistake, there will be plenty of flash from these two entertaining backcourts even with Chris Paul out, but this game will be won in the paint.

My Start Four

Make your picks on the Golden State of Mind Group on Start Four to win some super fly threads designed by the world famous designer extraordinaire (and my friend) Tony.psd!

The 411: Win tony.psd gear in 4 Game Golden State of Mind Start Four Contest! - Golden State Warriors vs Minnesota Timberwolves, Portland Trail Blazers, Washington Wizards, LA Clippers

I've got 4 on it:

1. Stephen Curry- We're in a drought here in the Bay Area, but I'm predicting Curry to supply some rain from downtown.
2. Andre Iguodala- 10-5-5 with 2 picks will help get this W.
3. Jamal Crawford- See below.
4. Antawn Jamison- I'll always root for this former Warrior. It's always a great time out when you're dropping back-to-back 51 points.

Predictions

• Stephen Curry gets his jersey number with 30 points.
• Jamal Crawford aka JC torches the Warriors for 30, including a 4 point play off a made 3 pointer while falling down for an and 1. (It's seriously uncanny how good JC is at making this happen.) His Warrior tenure was brief, but I'll never forget this.
• Lots of drama, but no ejections.
• This pulls in the highest rating for a TNT Thursday game of the season.
• Warriors by 3.

I'll go retro GSOM and drop a Track of the Day: Blackstreet - "No Diggity" ft. Dr. Dre, Queen Pen

Also don't forget to grab your tickets for GSOM Night 14- coming at you from Santa Cruz!

Event: GSoM Night 14 invades Santa Cruz February 1st!