The OKC Thunder are heading west for a three-game, four-night road trip in San Francisco that features a baseball-style series. The Oklahoma City Thunder will take on the Golden State Warriors for the second and third time this season on Thursday and again on Saturday before jetting up to Portland to dance with the Trail Blazers.
To this point in the season, the OKC Thunder sit with the fifth-best record in the Western Conference with a 7-4 record, going 3-1 on the road to this point. The Thunder have already battled with the 6-6 Warriors this season in a tilt that was dripped with controversy.
OKC Thunder has to take care of business against the Golden State Warriors in a baseball-style series.
The Golden State Warriors will be without future Hall of Famer Steph Curry, who is sidelined with a knee sprain that will be re-evaluated before the second meeting between these two foes this week. Though, it feels unlikely Curry will play in Saturday’s affair against Oklahoma City.
The Warriors are guaranteed to be down Draymond Green for each of these tilts as he is sidelined, serving a five-game suspension for his tussle with the Minnesota Timberwolves that featured him putting Wolves big man Rudy Gobert in a headlock.
The NBA is suspending Golden State’s Draymond Green for five games, source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 16, 2023
This is the right time to catch the dynastic Warriors, who are down two of their best players, including the head of the snake. Meanwhile, the OKC Thunder boast a completely healthy roster, only missing a couple of G League assignees in Ousmane Dieng and Keyontae Johnson.
While the Thunder still represent the second-youngest roster in the entire NBA, they must take advantage of this stretch. It is hard to win on the road in the NBA, and the Western Conference table will be decided by one to three games; picking up games you “should win” is a must to survive the 82 gauntlet.
After battling with the shorthanded Golden State Warriors, the OKC Thunder will take on one of the worst teams in the NBA. While that Portland matchup comes on the second leg of a back-to-back and is the fourth game in three nights, the OKC Thunder will be rewarded with consecutive off days for just the second time this season after that Portland tango.
The night before Thanksgiving, the OKC Thunder will take on the Chicago Bulls before the schedule ramps back up, featuring matchups with the 76ers, Timberwolves, Lakers, Mavericks, Jazz, Kings, and Nuggets.
With that tough stretch on the horizon, the Oklahoma City Thunder have to cash in on these next four games.