Warriors vs. Cavs Preview: 4 in a row?

Don’t look now, but the Golden State Warriors are on the verge of their first four-game winning streak of the season. And don’t look now, but they’re playing darn good basketball.

Over the last five games, the Warriors are fourth in offensive rating, fourth in defensive rating, and third in net rating, trailing only the Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Clippers. They’ve had some easy opponents in that span, and at some point Steph Curry will probably cool off at least a tiny bit, but still ... they suddenly look like a good team.

I, for one, think they should keep it up.

The deets

Who: Golden State Warriors (27-28) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (20-34)

When: 5:00 p.m. PT

Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, Ohio

TV: NBC Sports Bay Area (available on fuboTV)

Projected starting lineups:

Warriors: Stephen Curry, Kent Bazemore, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney
Cavs: Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, Kevin Love, Jarrett Allen

Last results:

Warriors: Beat the Thunder 147-109 — 4-1 in their last 5 games
Cavs: Beat the Hornets 103-90 — 3-2 in their last 5 games

Team ratings (garbage-time adjusted, per Cleaning The Glass):

Warriors: 109.8 offense (21st), 111.6 defense (9th), -1.8 (22nd)
Cavs: 106.0 offense (29th), 113.6 defense (21st), -7.6 net (28th)

The story

At long last, it seems the Warriors are making their playoff push. And they’d be wise to capitalize on a bad opponent, as they did a night ago against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Not only do the Warriors need the win, but their next two games are road contests against the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers. They need to bank wins where they can.

Players to watch

Warrior to watch: Steph Curry.

What Curry has been doing lately is nothing short of absurd.

He’s the definition of must-see TV right now.

Cavalier to watch: Kevin Love.

It’s easy to forget that Love exists, since Cleveland is bad and he’s been injured. But he’s finally healthy and back on the court, and it’s good to see. He’s only played 11 games this year, and his minutes are being limited, but he’s still scoring and rebounding at a strong rate, and shooting 37.5% from beyond the arc.

Matchup to watch: Kent Bazemore vs. Darius Garland.

Garland has been on an absolute tear in his second season, and has worked his per game averages up to 16.9 points and 5.9 assists, while shooting 40.3% from three-point range.

He’s a weapon.

Bazemore continues to start in place of the injured Kelly Oubre Jr., and his defense has been very strong lately. The Warriors will need that to keep being the case.

Keys to victory

• Keep the crisp and movement-heavy offense in place
• Continued offensive aggression from Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins
• Get out and run

Make it four, Dubs.