PREVIEW: Warriors (31-5) At Contending/Pretending OKC Thunder (18-20) – Kerr Orders Rest For Bogut And Iguodala

Golden State Warriors (31-5) at Oklahoma City Thunder (18-20)

Tip-off: Friday, Janurary 16th, 2015 – 5:00PM PDT

Location: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK

TV: CSN Bay Area, ESPN | Radio: KNBR 680 AM

Livetweet: @LetsGoWarriors #LetsGoWarriorsLive

Projected Starting Lineups:

Warriors

PG: Stephen Curry (23.3 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 8.0 APG)

SG: Klay Thompson (21.3 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 3.0 APG)

SF: Harrison Barnes (10.5 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 1.4 APG)

PF: Draymond Green (11.8 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 3.8 APG)

C: Marreese Speights (12.4 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 0.9 APG)

Head Coach: Steve Kerr (31-5, .857)

Thunder

PG: Russell Westbrook (25.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 7.1 APG)

SG: Andre Roberson (3.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.3 APG)

SF: Kevin Durant (24.9 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 3.4 APG)

PF: Serge Ibaka (14.2 PPG 7.2 RPG, 0.9 APG)

C: Steven Adams (7.4 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 0.8 APG)

Head Coach: Scott Brooks (311-190, .621)

Last Times Out

PREVIOUS WARRIORS GAME: Two nights ago on Wednesday, 1/14/2014, Golden State defeated Miami, 114-89 in Oakland as Curry hit seven three-pointers and the bench unit stretched out a first-quarter lead.

PREVIOUS THUNDER GAME: Yesterday on Thursday, 1/15/2014, The Thunder lost to the Rockets, 112-101, in Houston.

PREVIOUS WARRIORS-THUNDER MATCHUP: Golden State held Westbrook and Durant to 8-for-37 shooting as the Warriors defeated the Thunder, 117-91, in Oakland on 1/5/2015.

PREVIOUS WARRIORS-THUNDER MATCHUP IN OKC: Westbrook and Durant were injured, but the Warriors played sluggishly early this season and Speights saved the day, 89-86, on 11/23/2014 in Oklahoma City, OK.

Game Notes:

• “This is the third game in four nights — all played in different cities — for the Warriors, and they play at Houston on Saturday. Both (Andrew) Bogut, who recently returned from a knee injury, and (Andre) Iguodala, who had a summer procedure for his knee tendinitis, are expected to play against the Rockets and in Monday’s afternoon game at home against Denver.

  ‘We’ll do a little bit of this the rest of the year, just based on the schedule,’ Kerr said. ‘We want to keep those guys fresh and also feel like it’s not bad for some of the other guys to have to step in and take on some of the responsibility.’

  Marreese Speights will get the start in Bogut’s place. Harrison Barnes, David Lee and Shaun Livingston, who has rested the past two games, will see extended time filling in for Iguodala.

  ‘Andre’s not real happy. He wants to play every second of every game. I have to protect him from himself, a little bit,’ Kerr said. ‘Bogues was a little trickier, because he’s been out. But this kind of stretch is difficult for everybody.'” — Rusty Simmons, San Francisco Chronicle

• “They look like nothing more than glorified imposters, a group of guys living on reputation and past achievements.

  That’s now seven of 13 the Thunder has dropped, sliding it further down the Western Conference standings as the midway point of the season nears.

  They want to chalk up these recent disappointments to off nights, missed shots and teams getting hot. But deep down they’ve got to know something is deeply wrong. The defense is brutal, the offense is sputtering and the chemistry seems to be at its lowest point since the inaugural season.” — Darnell Mayberry, The Oklahoman

• “Warriors close out the 4-game season series with Oklahoma City tonight, seeking their first-ever sweep of the franchise (founded in 1967-68)” — Warriors PR

• “Dion Waiters‘ locker has been moved, per the request of Durant and Westbrook. They wanted him closer to them to help him get integrated.”