Fantasy Weekend: Thunder face foes from the West Coast

Coming off an entertaining All-Star Weekend, the OKC Thunder look to lock in for the playoff push.

Welcome back one and all to your weekly bomb of fantasy knowledge. The OKC Thunder are finally back in action after being off last week. While the All-Star game was fun, it’s time for some meaningful NBA basketball. Oklahoma City squares off against a pair of familiar foes this weekend: the Sacramento Kings and the rival Golden State Warriors.

The Thunder come into the weekend 5th in the West. With a pair of wins on the West coast, they could jump start their path to a higher seed. This is good news for both Thunder and fantasy fans alike. Both games promise to be exciting and full of big performances.

At the risk of rambling, let’s move on to our selections for this week.

Russell Westbrook

If the Thunder weren’t playing the Warriors on Saturday night Russell might not be on this list. That’s no disrespect to the MVP, but it gets old picking him every week since he is an obvious choice in fantasy basketball. However, even Russ seems to elevate his game to another level when facing Golden State.

In the Thunder’s two previous victories, he is averaging a ridiculous stat-line of 34 points, 9.5 rebounds and 9 assists. All of that while shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor.

So yeah, Russ is gonna ball out again.

Steph Curry

For the war-machine that is the Warriors offense to function at it’s highest level, Steph Curry has to be the catalyst. Yes, they have Kevin Durant, but I believe Golden State becomes unbeatable when Curry is at his best. You know, when he’s pulling up from 45 feet and draining every three in sight.

The problem with all that is that Curry has the potential to do that against OKC this Saturday. After being relatively quiet in the first two meetings, I expect a different Steph to take the floor this weekend. Which could be bad news for OKC Thunder fans.

Paul George

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• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

Unfortunately the talk for the rest of the season will be centered around George’s impending free agency. But let’s not forget that he is developing a great chemistry with Russell Westbrook and is starting to hit his stride at the right time for OKC.

He has played brilliantly in two games against Golden State, and Sacramento doesn’t have a defender capable enough to deal with him. Look for PG to have another strong stretch of games, especially on the defensive end.

De’Aaron Fox

For our wildcard selection this week, I went with rookie De’Aaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings. While this season has been a work in progress for Fox, he appears to have all the potential in the world. He is averaging just 11.3 points and 4.3 assists per game but has the ability to light it up.

With the Thunder’s tendency to play down to their opponents, I foresee Fox having a nice game against the boys in blue.