The Golden State Warriors are one of the sleeper picks in the NBA this season to make a run in the western conference after upsetting the Denver Nuggets last year in the postseason and after signing Andre Iguodala the team is much improved and on Thursday night the team will host the Portland Trail Blazers at ORACLE Arena at 10::30 pm in a game streaming on the NBA.com website.
The Warriors are coming back with most of their top core intact with Stephen Curry, Andrew Bogut and Harrison Barnes as well as Klay Thompson and the team comes back for Mark Jackson as one of the top offensive teams in the league. Curry is turning into a very good scorer and he is one of the best shooters in the league and while the team is just 3-3 and the Blazers are 4-2 and they are almost done with the preseason schedule with just one game left after this. The Warriors last won against the Kings and they were very impressive last season in the playoffs and they could make a deep run this season if Iguodala and Curry can play well together.
Check here for the NBA.com preseason coverage for the Warriors and Blazers. Check here for more news on the NFL and the Dallas Cowboys trade rumors about Adrian Peterson.
The Warriors have a tough road since they are in the western conference and to move along Golden State will have to get past the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder and that obviously could be a tough test, but the team has the scoring to do it. Last season Curry developed as a leader and having Iguodala adds another player that can score and also one of the most underrated defenders in the NBA. The Warriors are familiar with Iguodala and vice-versa after the two sides played in the first round last season and that was a big upset by the Warriors.
Golden State came into the series against the Nuggets as the underdog and one reason was because of how well the Nuggets played at home, losing only three times, but they were beaten there and the Warriors moved on before getting beat by the Spurs, who obviously went on to get to the NBA finals. The Warriors ranked seventh in the NBA in scoring last season and allowed over 100 points per game, but Jackson has been working hard on the defense and that should improve this season.
The Warriors ranked in the top five in rebounds last season with Bogut and David Lee and the team ranked 15th in assists with over 20 per game and while they allowed over 100 points, they put up over 101 per game and they will need to increase their scoring a bit to stay ahead of the D this season. The Warriors are coming off of a loss to the Kings and Curry led the way with 24 points, while Bogut had seven rebounds and Iguodala had six assists. The team will next play the LA Lakers to finish the preseason.
