The Brooklyn Nets came out of Utah with a much needed win on Friday night. They now head to Golden State on Sunday evening where they’ll play a Warriors team that is nearly impossible to beat at home.
The Warriors are 17-5 at home so far and finally hit the .500 mark on the season.
Brooklyn needed a sensational Kyrie Irving game on Friday to beat the Jazz and will likely need another epic-like performance since Kevin Durant remains out of the lineup.
WHO: Brooklyn Nets (28-17) at Golden State Warriors (23-23)
WHEN: 8:30 pm est
WHERE: NBA TV (national), YES Network (local and app), WFAN-FM (radio)
Game preview.
The Nets regained their rhythm from downtown on Friday, and that will be essential tonight. Joe Harris and Seth Curry went a combined 5-12 from deep on Friday night, and Jacque Vaughn stressed the importance of taking more three pointers to (try to) offset the absence of KD. He’s going to need his guys locked in from deep early and often.
It’s really surprising just how terrible the Warriors are away from home. Their road winning percentage is only .250, which is the third worst in the league. With the Western Conference being as jam packed as it is from the fifth seed all the way down to the 13th, they will have to get some road Ws if they want to make it back to the playoffs and properly defend their title.
Who will defend Ben Simmons tonight? All signs point to him getting the Andrew Wiggins assignment as Wiggins is the second scoring option on the Warriors. It’s been a struggle for the former All Star since his return from an adductor injury, as he’s averaging only 14 points a night on .354/.235/.500 shooting splits. His return to form will go a long way in getting the Warriors back into the top six of the conference and out of the playoffs.
For more on the Warriors, check out Golden State of Mind.