Golden State Warriors (5-2) vs Denver Nuggets (2-5)
Tip-Off: Friday, October 24, 2014 – 7:30PM PDT
Location: Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA
TV: CSN Bay Area / KNBR 1050
Livetweet: Live Tweet @LetsGoWarriors on Twitter
Projected Starting Lineups:
Warriors:
PG: Stephen Curry (24.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 8.5 APG)
SG: Klay Thompson (18.4 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 2.2 APG)
SF: Harrison Barnes (9.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.5 APG)
PF: David Lee (18.3 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 2.1 APG)
C: Andrew Bogut (7.3 PPG, 10 RPG, 1.7 APG)
Head Coach: Steve Kerr
Nuggets:
PG: Nate Robinson (10.4 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 2.5 APG)
SG: Arron Afflalo (18.2 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 3.4 APG)
SF: Danilo Gallinari (16.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 2.5 APG)
PF: Kenneth Faried (13.7 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 1.2 APG)
C: Timofey Mozgov (9.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 0.8 APG)
Head Coach: Brian Shaw
Last Time Out:
10/21 – Warriors defeated Clippers 125-107 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA
20/21 – Nuggets lost to Trailblazers 75-93 at the Coors Event Center in Boulder, CO
What to Watch For:
The Warriors wrap up the preseason at home against the Denver Nuggets Friday, their final opportunity to fine-tune before the regular season begins in Sacramento on Wednesday.
The most prominent change for the team through training camp and seven preseason games is Barnes’ move into the starting lineup in place of Andre Iguodala following a nose break.
It remains to be seen if this will be the norm going forward, and Kerr has said he plans to use different lineups based on circumstances throughout the season.
Andrew Bogut, who missed the Warriors last game with food poisoning should be ready to go to tonight, and he thinks the Dubs’ offense is ready to go, minus a few turnovers.
“Our squad’s been together for a number of years now… There’s been a coulep tweaks on the bench but I think we’ll be fine,” Bogut said. “I think the system isn’t overhwlemingly new, it’s pretty much the same kind of stuff just demanding more ball movement less turnovers.
The preseason has seen strong performances from Curry and Thompson especially, both in the top 10 in scoring while shooting over 50% from the field and from three-point range.
Thompson, who currently ranks second in scoring, says he has no interest in a preseason scoring title, and is just concerned about getting in a good night’s work.
“(I want to) just get in a good rhythm and iron out all the kinks offensively and defensively,” Thompson said. “Just go out there and make sure you’re in great shape, a good 20-25 minutes of good basketball.”
Kerr’s emphasis on ball-movement offense hasn’t just benefited the Splash Brothers. Lee has led all qualified players in field goal percentage while averaging 12 and 5 in just over 21 minutes per game.
As a team, the Warriors have managed an NBA best 109,7 points per game during the preseason by leading the league in field goal percentage (51.3%) and assists (27.4) while ranking second in three-point percentage (38.7%).
Ty Lawson, arguably Denver’s top player, is expected to miss Friday’s game with a sore hamstring, but that should be the only major difference for the Nuggets since the Warriors faced them last Thursday.
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