Warriors tonight: 10 Things about the Nets matchup

LA Clippers vs Golden State Warriors - Full Game Highlights | February 23, 2017 | 2016-17 NBA Season
1. THE BASICS

Tipoff: 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Oracle Arena. TV: CSN Bay Area. Radio: KGMZ 95.7 The Game in Oakland and San Francisco, KRTY 95.3 in San Jose, KION 1460 and 101.1 in Salinas and Monterey.

2. THE RECORDS

Warriors: 48-9, No. 1 in the Western Conference by four games over San Antonio.Nets: 9-48, worst record in the NBA.

3. WHAT HAVE THEY DONE LATELY?

Warriors: Completed a season sweep of the Los Angeles Clippers with a 123-113 come-from-behind victory on Thursday at Oracle Arena. Los Angeles led by 16 points in the second quarter and 61-49 at halftime. But the Warriors charged back in the third quarter, outscoring the Clippers 50-26. the warriors shot 17 of 23 (73.9 percent) from the field and 9 of 15 (60.0 percent) on 3-pointers in the quarter. Stephen Curry scored 20 of his 35 points in the period, with 17 coming in the final 3:37. And this all came after Curry missed a technical free throw at the very beginning of the half. Kevin Durant had 15 of his 25 points in the period. Golden State went on to lead by as many as 23 points in the fourth quarter. The victory was the Warriors 10th in row overall against the demoralized Clippers and 11th straight at Oracle Arena.Nets: Lost at Denver 129-109 on Friday night. Brooklyn has lost 15 in a row and has not won a game since defeating New Orleans 143-114 on the road on Jan. 20. Before that, the Nets had lost 11 straight. They have lost a mind-boggling 31 times in their past 33 games.

4. PREVIOUS MEETING

On Dec. 22 at the Barclays Center, Golden State trailed 65-49 after a sluggish first half. But the Warriors came out of halftime and cranked up their defense against the most turnover-prone team in the NBA and won 117-101. The Nets wilted under the pressure, turning the ball over 11 times in the third quarter and 18 times in the second half. For the game, the Warriors scored 32 points off the Nets 26 turnovers. The Warriors were credited with a season-high 19 steals, five by Curry and four by Klay Thompson.

5. MATCHUP TO WATCH

Zaza Pachulia vs. Brook Lopez: In the last meeting, Pachulia had 15 points, 14 rebounds and four assists in 26 minutes in his best game as a Warrior. Lopez, the former Stanford star, needs 19 points to reach 10,000 for his career. He is averaging 20.7 points this season and is the Nets biggest remaining 3-point threat, hitting 91 of 266 for a respectable 34.2 percent. (Brooklyn traded Bojan Bogdanovic and his 99 3-pointers to Washington last week.) In the last game before the All-Star break, Lopez had 36 points and eight blocked shots against Milwaukee, making him the first player with six 3-pointers and eight blocks in the same game.

6. 50-POINT HISTORY

The Warriors 50-point quarter against the Clippers was the fourth in Warriors history. Amazingly, the other three came in an 18-day span in March of 1989. Golden State scored a franchise-record 57 points in the third quarter in a 155-143 victory over Sacramento on March 4, 1989. Three days later against the Clippers, the Warriors scored 50 in the fourth quarter of a 138-112 triumph. The Warriors trailed 89-88 after three quarters in that one. On March 21, the Warriors had another 50-point fourth quarter as they beat Portland 151-127. Those Warriors teams were led by Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond and Terry Teagle in the pre-Run TMC days before Tim Hardaway was drafted three months later. The last 50-point quarter in the NBA not counting the All-Star Game was on March 25, 2014 when the Los Angeles Lakers (without Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol) scored 51 against the New York Knicks.

7. TOUGH STRETCH

This is Game 2 of the Nets eight-game Circus Trip while the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus occupies the Barclays Center. Brooklyn already owns the leagues worst road record at 2-24 and figures to add to the loss total with games at Oakland, Sacramento, Utah, Portland, Memphis, Atlanta and Dallas still to come. But at least they wont set an NBA record for worst road season. The 1990-91 Kings were 1-40 on the road.

8. MISMATCH

The Warriors (48-9 .842) and Nets (9-48 .158) enter this game with won-lost records that are the exact opposite. But the discrepancy in their winning percentages (.684) isnt quite that of the .727 when the Warriors faced the Los Angeles Lakers last March 6 at Staples Center. The Lakers won that game 112-95 in the biggest upset in NBA history based on winning percentages.

9. HOW LOW CAN THEY GO?

Besides having the worst record in the NBA, the Nets are also at the bottom of the NBA in several categories. They are last in points allowed (114.5 per game), last in point differential (minus-9.0), last in turnovers (16.5), 28th in rebound differential (minus-3.8), 28th in offensive rebounds allowed (11.3), 29th in getting their own shots blocked (5.8), 28th in offensive efficiency (101.2 points per 100 possessions) and 28th in defensive efficiency (109.5 points per 100 possessions).

10. BACK IN ACTION

Palo Alto native Jeremy Lin returned to Brooklyns lineup Friday night in Denver after missing 26 games because of a strained left hamstring suffered the day after Christmas against Charlotte. He had seven points and five assists in 15 minutes against the Nuggets.

Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/25/warriors-tonight-10-things-about-the-nets-matchup/