Game 53 Preview: Nets (17-35) at Golden State Warriors (20-29)

Former Nets fan favorite Richard Jefferson was traded to Golden State from the Spurs on trade deadline day; one of my favorite Nets of all time

Finally, the Nets head out on the road as they look to beat a team in the Warriors who are facing tons of injury and personnel issues like the Nets are. Stephen Curry is most likely done for the season, former franchise guard Monta Ellis is gone, and recently-acquired Andrew Bogut is definitely done for the year with a sever ankle injury. The Nets aren't much better off as they only have 10 healthy players for tonight's game; Shelden and Jordan Williams along with Jordan Farmar are out while D-League call-up Dennis Horner and Anthony Morrow will be suiting up. Even with all these injuries, the Nets still have the superior talent to Golden State and should win this one easily. However, because this is the Nets we're talking about, that probably won't happen. 

Background on Golden State

As mentioned above, the Warriors don't have much healthy offensive explosiveness right now and truthfully aren;t a scary team. David Lee, who spurned the Nets in free agency a few offseasons ago in order to go to Golden State, is still a load to guard in the paint and is a double-double machine. Averaging nearly 20 points and 10 rebounds a game this season, Lee can grab boards with the best of them in the NBA and is a great interior finisher. This could be a major problem for the undermanned and rebounding-challenged Nets who will have Johan Petro (ouch) in the starting lineup for the game.

Previous Game

In a true dud of a game, Golden State got crushed by the lowly New Orleans Hornets at the Oracle Arena Wednesday night. David Lee led the Warriors with 28 points and seven boards while upstart rookie guard Klay Thompson chipped in 13. A injury-depleted Hornets team couldn't be stopped on offense as they shot an extremely efficient 54 percent as the Warriors' real weakness--their poor defense--was exposed by a bad New Orleans team.


On the contrary to the Warriors, the Nets won their best home game of the season on Wednesday by blowing out the playoff-bound Indiana Pacers by a score of 100-84. New Jersey did everything right: played wonderful defense, shot nearly 50 percent from the field, outrebounded the Pacers, and only committed 13 turnovers. Deron Williams led the way as usual with 30 points and nine dimes on 11-19 shooting. 

Probable Lineups 

NJN- D.Williams (PG), Brooks (SG), Wallace (SF), Humphries (PF), Petro (C)

GSW- N.Robinson (PG), Klay Thompson (SG), D.Wright (SF), J.Tyler (PF), David Lee (C)

Three Keys to a Nets Win

1. Control David Lee in the paint; he's Golden State's only real paint scorer so he can be focused on.

2. Hit some 3-pointers; the Nets can't win without hitting their shots.

3. Build off momentum from great win on Wednesday; the Pacers are a really good team and had beaten the Nets 10 prior games in-a-row prior to this past week's game.