The Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Clippers are two of the top teams in the Western Conference and they will face off on Saturday night. The Warriors come in at 48-5 which is the top record in the NBA while the Clippers come in at 36-18 which is fourth best in the West.
The Warriors are coming off their worst game of the season when they got blown out by the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night. The Warriors lost by 32 points which was their worst defeat in four years, and it snapped an 11-game winning streak. The Warriors will look to avoid back-to-back defeats for the first time since last April.
While the Warriors had it handed to them on Friday night, it is hard to blame Stephen Curry. Curry dropped 31 points and made 7-13 from beyond the arc. The NBA's leading scorer continues to do amazing things on the basketball court, but this game proved, more than any other, that he cannot do it by himself.
One of the biggest culprits was first-time All-Star Draymond Green. Green finished just two assists shy of a triple-double, but he also had a career-high nine turnovers. Green has been stellar all year and does everything for this Warriors team, so those turnovers are likely just an aberration.
On the injury front for the Warriors they are still without backup center Festus Ezeli who recently had arthroscopic knee surgery. Ezeli is reportedly ahead of schedule but still isn't all that close to a return. Starting center Andrew Bogut was icing his ankle during Friday night's game and was seen leaving the arena with a limp, so his status for this one is also up in the air.
While the Warriors are coming off their worst loss of the season, the Clippers are coming off their best win of the season. Los Angeles defeated the Spurs on Thursday night by 19 points, and although they played without Kawhi Leonard, that is still an extremely impressive win. The Clippers have won four of their last five games.
Chris Paul has been on a tear since Blake Griffin has been out with an injury, and his leadership has been through the roof. The Clippers have actually been better this season without Griffin, and Paul is a huge reason why. The point guard is coming off a game in which he had 28 points and 12 assists and will look to do to Curry what Damian Lillard did to him on Friday night (51 points).
This game should mark the Clippers' debut for Jeff Green, whom they acquired on Thursday in a trade which sent Lance Stephenson and a protected first round pick to the Grizzlies. Green was reportedly causing some trouble in Memphis' locker room, but he has been playing well in his last eight games. In his final games with the Grizzlies, Green averaged 19.9 points and 5.5 rebounds off the bench, and he will provide some much-needed punch from the forward positions while Griffin is out.
On the injury front the Clippers are still without Griffin who, as mentioned before is still out with a fractured hand. Griffin likely won't be back until the very end of the regular season at best. Los Angeles has also been without backup point guard Austin Rivers who also has a fractured hand. Rivers had missed the team's last five games and will likely miss about another month. Some good news on the injury front is that Pablo Prigioni is expected to play after missing Thursday's game with a viral infection.
This will be the third meeting between these two teams this year. The Warriors have won both previous meetings, one at home and one on the road, but they were both very close games. Expect another close, hard-fought game on Saturday night.
The game is scheduled to tip off at 8:30 p.m. EST time on ABC, and to watch the live broadcast go here. For the Warriors radio broadcast go here, and for the Clippers radio broadcast go here.
