Nazr Mohammed will start in place of Perkins. Nick Collison will surely play a ton of minutes tonight a he usually does against the Warriors and we may also even be treated to a Cole Aldrich sighting if necessary.

Thabo Sefolosha is also still out tonight and has missed the last 11 games now including tonight. Daequan Cook will remain the starting two-guard and will need to do a better job tonight checking Monta Ellis, who scored 48 points the last time these two teams met.

Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game losing streak)
105.4 Offensive Efficiency (3rd)
99.2 Defensive Efficiency (14th)
96.1 Pace (4th)

Warriors (1-game losing streak)
104.0 Offensive Efficiency (6th)
104.0 Defensive Efficiency (25th)
95.1 Pace (10th)

The Thunder are coming off a very tough loss two nights ago to the Houston Rockets. Oklahoma City had a chance to win the game three times in the final 30 seconds but Kevin Durant came up empty three times. The last time the Thunder played Golden State that game came down to the wire and via one of the same plays Oklahoma City ran late to try and beat Houston, Oklahoma City got a big basket from Durant to sink the Warriors. Golden State had won three straight before dropping their last game at home against Portland. In that game, Monta Ellis did not play during the fourth quarter due to an illness. The Thunder are 2-0 already against the Warriors this season.

Thunder keys to the game

1. Kevin Durant

Durant has torched the Warriors more than any other team in his career, especially at home. He has a career scoring average of 31.4 against the Warriors and that number rises to 34.3 when he’s at home against Golden State. Durant will surely want to rebound with a big game tonight following his three misses in the Thunder’s last game. He is a matchup nightmare for the Warriors, even more so than usual, and pretty much gets whatever he wants against them. He scored 37 the first time they met this season and then 33 the last time. I think it’s safe to say we can expect another big night from Durant tonight.

2. What will Monta Ellis do?

Like I mentioned before, Ellis did not play in the fourth quarter of Golden State’s last game and Nate Robinson got all of his minutes, fumbling away the game down the stretch too. Ellis was anything but sick the last time he played against Oklahoma City scoring a career-high 48 points in the loss. Ellis got off to a great start partly thanks to his matchup of Daequan Cook who has been starting in place of the injured Thabo Sefolosha. We probably won’t see another 48 from Ellis tonight but Oklahoma City should shoot to keep him in the low 20’s at least.

3. David Lee

Also in the loss the last time these teams met another big night was recorded by a Warriors player. David Lee had his second-career triple double and dissected the Thunder defense all night. Lee was in rhythm that night and the Thunder should try and focus on getting him out of that rhythm early in this one. Nick Collison usually gets a lot of minutes against the Warriors but Serge Ibaka still starts and a couple of message-blocks early should deter another big night from Lee.

Prediction: Oklahoma City wins 115-111.

Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined to score 64 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder held on to beat the Golden State Warriors on the road 119-116 Tuesday night.

The individual headlines really belonged to Golden State though who got a career-high 48 points from Monta Ellis and a triple-double from David Lee.

Ellis had 40 points around halfway through the third and Westbrook did a nice job on him the rest of the game. Daequan Cook started out on Ellis still starting for the injured Thabo Sefolosha and Ellis took advantage and got into a nice rhythm early on.

Lee had six points, five assists and eight rebounds at halftime and would go on to finish with a 25-10-11 stat line.

The Thunder needed 44 and 43 minutes from Durant and Westbrook to pull this one off as the two really turned it on late in the fourth. They combined for the final eight Thunder points in the last two minutes of the game.

Durant made the biggest shot banking in an 18-footer with 14 seconds left to put the Thunder up 117-116.
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Steve Dykes-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game winning streak)
105.0 Offensive Efficiency (4th)
99.1 Defensive Efficiency (12th)
95.7 Pace (6th)

Warriors (1-game losing streak)
102.2 Offensive Efficiency (8th)
103.8 Defensive Efficiency (25th)
95.0 Pace (11th)

The Thunder are now right in the middle of their 5-game road trip and are playing at Golden State for the second time this season tonight. Kevin Durant always has big games versus the Warriors and did the first time these teams played this year with 37 points and 14 rebounds in 44 minutes. Serge Ibaka also had one of his best games of the season against the Warriors this year scoring 20 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. The Thunder overpowered the Warriors with their star power late in the game on the Jan. 27 meeting running pick-and-roll with Russell Westbrook and Durant almost exclusively down the stretch in the 120-109 victory. Expect the same thing this time around for Oklahoma City but they won’t want to play Durant 44 minutes tonight.
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