Preview: Nets visit Oracle to face the Undefeated Warriors

Matchup
Golden State Warriors 10-0 (5-0 Home)				vs.	Brooklyn Nets 1-8 (1-5 Road)
Details
November 14, 2015
Oracle Arena — Oakland, CA
7:30 pm PST
Local TV: CSNBA | Radio: KNBR 680 AM
Blog Buddy: Nets Daily
Projected Starters
Stephen Curry				G	Jarrett Jack
Klay Thompson				G	Joe Johnson
Harrison Barnes				F	Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
Draymond Green				F	Thaddeus Young
Festus Ezeli				C	Brook Lopez
Key Injuries
Kevon Looney (Hip) - Out Leandro Barbosa (Family) - Out					Chris McCullough (Knee) - Out Willie Reed (Thumb) - Out

★★★

The Warriors enter this game returning home after a tough early season back-to-back road trip that took them through a grind out Memphis win and a tough Wolves team that looks legit. They keep answering the call whenever the media or basketball fans wonder "can they keep this up"? Sure, thats easy to do when your best player and reigning MVP Steph Curry continues to dominate like he is. But lets face it: these Warriors are and will continue to be a sum of all their fantastic parts. Not enough credit is given to Draymond Green's effort and performance in Minnesota that saw him come two rebounds away from a triple-double. Klay Thompson also continued to contribute to the fold, increasing his scoring numbers again to help round out the effort. It's the small things that keep this team going, and is why even when they have a bad night (Memphis) or the other team can't miss (Wolves) that they still come away winning by comfortable margins.

They return home to familiar ground, getting a day off Friday to rest and recharge before welcoming the Nets to Oracle on Saturday night. They will not only continue their record-setting season start (currently 10-0 and not looking to stop any time soon) as well as their home regular season winning streak that spans into last season.

The Nets are still trying to get their feet under them this season after some roster turnover in the offseason. Sure, Deron Williams was an aging point guard whose production was dwindling, however they received basically nothing in return for him going to Dallas, and now have been forced to shift players in and out of the lineup to fix it. Jarrett Jack (friend of the Bay) becomes the primary ball handler, and though he is a Warriors killer, he doesn't necessarily have the same success against other teams in the league. They do feature past All Stars in Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson and both have put in good showings so far this season.

Their issue? Absolutely no bench.

One of their best scorers Bojan Bogdanovic comes off the bench, however he ends up playing more minutes a game than starter and rookie first-round pick Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Past Bojan, it's a long list of mediocrity highlighted by Andrea Bargnani and his fifteen exciting minutes per game. What a roster put together by the franchise over in Brooklyn, which continues to be just relevant enough to be average while never being bad enough to rebuild.

It would seem this might be the year they throw in the towel, and for that enjoy this Nets roster before they become big trade targets (Thad Young) and buyout candidates (Joe Johnson) toward the end of the season. If only Young hadn't signed a big deal in the offseason — he would quickly fall on the "guys I wish were scoring for the Warriors' second unit" list in my mind.

The Nets feature one of the league's lowest-scoring offenses, one of the league's worst defenses, and a grinding painful pace that makes them almost impossible to watch unless they are playing a good team like the Warriors. Sorry Brooklyn, you deserve better.

Game Predictions

If the team records didn't dictate enough, you could look to the Warriors' winning streak, and the fact that the Nets are simply not a good team. Their pieces don't jell well, and they sure don't play enough defense to keep up with the fast-paced Warriors. The biggest points in this game will be "Stay Healthy" and "Don't Get Bored".

Stay Healthy. let's work to get those starters out in the second half. A great game would be putting this one away at home with big runs in the first and third quarters, and having the Nets send out the back ups early into the second half. They will be coming off a road back-to-back from Sacramento on Friday, and that alone should leave them one step behind. They aren't particularly physical, so space the ball and run them off the court.

Don't Get Bored. The Warriors have found themselves giving up big runs in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of games this year. The streak is there, but runs from the benches against Detroit, Denver and Minnesota forced the starters to play more minutes in the fourth than planned. Luke Walton loves the play-it-through approach, which I agree with. Well, if that is the case, play through it! The offense on the second unit cannot count on Livingston one-on-one fadeaways or Mo Speights jumpers. Keep running the offense and you will find layups out there. If you keep the intensity up without the lapses, this team will see more blowouts and more time for the mop up crews

My prediction: This one won't be close. It won't be a 50-point blowout, but it will be a comfy win. Warriors win 120-94 and it's over by the third-quarter buzzer.

(follow me on twitter @badiehard)