The Golden State Warriors have been one of the surprise teams in the NBA this preseason, going 4-1 to lead the Pacific Division. They will look to improve their record when they take on the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.
Last season the Warriors were one of the most disappointing teams in the league, going 23-43, good for 13th in the league.
The team dealt with a lot of transition, with management trading franchise player Monta Ellis to the Milwaukee Bucks for center Andrew Bogut and guars Stephen Jackson, Along with Ellis, the team sent Kwame Brown and Ekpe Udoh to the Bucks.
The trade will allow third year point guard Stephen Curry to be the leader of the team one year after he played in only 26 games due to injury.
Second-year coach Mark Jackson will look to improve on the team's defense and rebounding after finishing in the bottom of the league in both those categories. Jackson was known as a solid defense player when he was in the league and he will try to instill that on his team this year.
On Wednesday the Warriors beat the Sacramento Kings in a matchup of Northern California squads, earning their fourth preseason victory 98-88. Stephen Curry had 19 points and David Lee added 14 rebounds in the winning effort. Lee was the only player on either team to notch a double-double.
Lee will need to have a big season if Golden State wants to be a contender. He has been one of the most consistent players in the league the past few years and last season he averaged over 20 points per game and nearly 10 rebounds.
The Trail Blazers are only 2-2 this preseason and are coming off a disappointing 28-38 finish last year.
The team has a number of talented players, including LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum. The team has trouble scoring points last season and were weak in the paint, ranking 25th in the league in rebounds per game.
The Trail Blazers beat the Denver Nuggets 97-80 on Wednesday night and got solid games from Matthews and Aldridge, who has 19 and 14 points respectively. For the Blazers to have success this season they will especially need production from those two players.
Rookie point guard Damian Lillard will have high expectations this season after the Blazers selected him with the No. 6 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.
The two teams finished at the bottom of the Western conference and will look to improve this year and try to make the playoffs. Utah and Dallas made the playoffs last season with a .545 win percentage, so the bar is not too high to attain for the Blazers and Warriors.
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