OAKLAND, Calif. Sporting Alert — The teams with the two best records in the NBA this season, the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs will battle at Oracle Arena on Thursday night, live on TNT and TNT Overtime.
Watch: San Antonio Spurs at Golden State Warriors
Where To Watch: TNT Overtime Live Stream
Date: Thurs, April 7 – 10:30 PM ET
Defending champions Warriors, chasing the NBA all-time record for most wins, are 69-9 this season and they face a Spurs team which has a 65-12 record on the term.
The last time these two teams met at Oracle Arena, Golden State easily put away their Western Conference rivals 120-90, but San Antonio won the last time they went head-to-head.
How Will Spurs Line-up
It is still unclear about the kind of Spurs line-ups coach Greg Popovich will field on Thursday night, but experienced center Boris Diaw will play no part in this matchup.
Diaw, who has been dealing with a sore right adductor, has been ruled out of the game with the injury, which will be his second in succession after missing the win over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.
The 33-year-old who is averaging 6.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, and is a big part of what Spurs does defensively, is expected to miss all three of his team’s three-game road trip, which concludes at the Denver Nuggets on Friday.
Starters Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, LaMarcus Aldridge, Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard are all expected to feature against the Warriors, but could play limited minutes on the road as Popovich looks to keep his key players fresh for the playoffs which is just around the corner.
Golden State, in the meantime, will more than likely play a strong team as coach Steve Kerr, back with the squad again, continues to encourage his players to go after the NBA all-time record for most wins.
According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Kerr was “a shell of himself” following a fluid leak in his spine.
Golden State is ranked first in the NBA in scoring, at 115.3 point per game and assists, at 29.1 per contest, and has an 88.5 percent win record this season, but has looked a shadow of themselves in recent outings, which saw them dropping two of the last three games.
According to ESPN Stats and Info, the team that controls the tempo on Thursday night is likely to come away with the victory.
If Golden State, who prefers to play fast gets going and settle quickly in their outside shooting groove, have things its way, then San Antonio could struggle again like it did when they first visited the Oracle Arena earlier season.
However, is Spurs get to play the slow building style of play, and dictate the speed, they could end the defending champions’ quest to break the record.
Stephen Curry, the reigning MVP, and the man leading the race to for this year’s award, heads into the clash averaging 30.0 points, 6.7 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 50.2 percent overall from the floor and 45.6 percent from long-range.
In his two games again San Antonio this season, Curry is putting up 25.5 points, 4.5 assists and four rebounds.
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