The Warriors will go into Thursday’s contest after two well-deserved days off. Golden State desperately needed that rest after two physically and emotionally taxing games with the Lakers. The Warriors won a tight one in Los Angeles on Sunday, but lost in overtime at ORACLE Arena on Monday. Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson played all 53 minutes on Monday, and Monta Ellis logged 50 minutes just a day after playing all 48 at STAPLES Center on Sunday.
Golden State played each of its recent games against Los Angeles at a high level, and it will be important for the Warriors to maintain that intensity level on Thursday against the Trail Blazers. With only 12 games left in the regular season and two games separating the seventh-place Dallas Mavericks from the ninth-place Denver Nuggets, the Warriors, sandwiched in the middle of those two teams and currently in position for the eighth and final playoff berth in the West, have little room for error. Golden State has avoided consecutive losses since the first week of January, and the team will need to continue to do so during this heated race for the postseason.
Should the Warriors post a victory on Thursday, they may or may not need to find a way to contain the dangerous combination of Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. Both players are injured and listed as day-to-day, but Golden State will be prepared to deal with whatever lineup Portland brings out to the floor.
But as Warriors fans know, their favorite team can put up some impressive numbers as well. That was the case on March 2, the last time the Warriors faced off with Portland, when Jackson knocked down six three-pointers to finish with a game-high 29 points in a 110-104 Warriors victory.
GT #71: Portland Trail Blazers (38-34) @ Golden State Warriors (43-27) - 3/27
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