Preview: OKC Thunder seek third consecutive victory over Warriors

The OKC Thunder head into Golden State Warrior territory looking to do the unthinkable – beat the Dub’s in three consecutive games.

The OKC Thunder have been riding a roller coaster all season long. This scribe was certainly hoping the Thunder could find some consistency coming out of the All-Star break.

After narrowly escaping the Sacramento Kings, thanks to Russell Westbrook reverting to vintage 2016-17 Russ in the final 10 seconds. The roller coaster ride appeared to continue.

If the first two meetings against the Warriors serve as any indicator OKC should easily beat the Dubs. The Thunder has beat Golden State by a combined 37-points in two games this season.

However, in the NBA things are never that simple. Each game is different and what happened in a previous matchup does not necessarily correlate with will happen in future meetings.

Onto the Golden State Warriors side of this much-anticipated matchup. If you go by record alone the Warriors are no longer the best team in the NBA. That title goes to the 44-13 Houston Rockets.

However, there is more to being the best than simply counting wins and losses. On the other hand, losses can indicate weakness.

Golden State has lost two games each against the Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, and yes the OKC Thunder this season. The Warriors have never been swept in a regular season series against the West or the East.

Sweeps aside, the Dubs have not lost three games to the same opponent in the regular season. Oklahoma City has two opportunities to be the first team to hand the Dubs three regular season losses.

*Warriors win/loss statistics only date back to 2014-15 when Steve Kerr became the head coach.

With that, let’s get to my three keys.