Preview: Undefeated Warriors visit winless Thunder in OKC

The Golden State Warriors are 3-0. The Oklahoma City Thunder are 0-3. Is this the season’s first trap game for the Dubs?

Who: Golden State Warriors @ Oklahoma City Thunder

When: Tuesday, October 26th, 2021 @ 5PM PT

How to Watch: NBC Sports Bay Area

How to Listen: 95.7 the Game

Injuries:

Warriors: Klay Thompson (out, Achilles), James Wiseman (out, knee) Jonathan Kuminga (out, knee)

Thunder: Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Reggie Jackson, Victor Oladipo, Steven Adams, Serge Ibaka, Danilo Gallinari (all out lmao)

Check out our blog buddy Welcome To Loud City giving sobering but hopeful support for their franchise after a recent loss to the Philadelphia 76ers:

The Thunder trailed by double digits for most of the game, but it never felt like they were completely out of it. There were multiple points throughout the game where OKC making a run to close the gap was within reach.

Overall, this was a very encouraging performance from the Thunder. The team looked in synched and three of the Thunder’s most important players played great. If most games end up following the same formula where the team loses — but not by a huge margin — and the young players show signs of development and improvement, then this season will be filed under as a success.

Damn, remember when Warriors fans were this content with any signs of quality basketball? Now, if the team doesn’t win a title, they’re allegedly wasting Steph Curry’s prime. That’s pretty intense. Thankfully, this season doesn’t seem to be wasting away, as Curry’s Dubs are shining in the early part of this year’s journey.

Their latest win, a 119-107 victory over the Sacramento Kings, showcased Curry’s unstoppable offensive abilities against a budding defensive stopper in Davion Mitchell.

The Thunder have a young defensive star of their own in Luguentz Dort, who staked his claim to fame by putting James Harden in Pelican Bay during the bubble playoffs. But Dort struggled to put those same clamps on Curry last season.

Per NBA.com’s matchup tracking, Curry shot 13-of-21 (61.9%) and a blazing hot 9-of-15 from beyond the arc when Dort drew him as an assignment. Here’s a sample of the matchup:

I’ll be very interested to see the changes Dort makes in this contest; his team’s fate could very well rely on his point of attack defense on the most dangerous man in basketball.