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After emerging victorious against the New Orleans Pelicans in their previous outing, the Golden State Warriors now have two home games against the Oklahoma City Thunder beginning on Thursday.
The Oklahoma City Thunder currently find themselves in a predicament, having lost nine of their last ten matchups. This could fall nicely into the hands of the Golden State Warriors, who are hoping to hold onto the eighth seed in the West.
Match details
Fixture: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Golden State Warriors | NBA Season 2020-21.
Date & Time: Thursday, May 6th; 10:00 PM ET (Friday, 7th May; 7:30 AM IST).
Venue: Chase Center, San Francisco, CA.
Oklahoma City Thunder preview
Although they have only lost by less than five points in three of their previous five games, the Oklahoma City Thunder are struggling to score the ball. In fact, during their last ten games, no team has had a worse field-goal percentage than the Thunder and only five sides have scored fewer points.
However, this is to be expected of a team building for the next campaign. They are also still playing without their best player - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Oklahoma City Thunder fans will be excited about how their young stars can develop over the summer. After all, before Gilgeous-Alexander's injury, OKC were doing anything but tanking, which was most people's expectation for their season.
Key player - Darius Bazley
Darius Bazley has been the player to step up recently for the Oklahoma City Thunder. At only 20 years of age, the power forward has thoroughly impressed in his sophomore year.
In their last ten matchups, Bazley has averaged 19 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. He was entrusted with the most field-goal attempts of any Oklahoma City Thunder player (16) and made 41.9% of them during that time.
Looking ahead to the Oklahoma City Thunder's future, Bazley has firmly put his name into consideration as one of their go-to guys on offense. Over the course of his last fifteen games, Bazley has gradually improved his ability to get to the line. In that time, he took 5 free-throw attempts per game and sunk 67% of them, well above his season average of three per game.
Oklahoma City Thunder predicted lineup
Point Guard - Theo Maledon l Shooting Guard - Luguentz Dort l Small Forward - Darius Bazley l Power Forward - Isaiah Roby l Center - Moses Brown.
Golden State Warriors preview
The Golden State Warriors are in the midst of a battle to make the playoffs. They might still make it, since no team in the current fight for the 8th seed has the experience they have. Steph Curry and Draymond Green have been outstanding in their last ten games. The former has averaged 35.5 points a night in that time, while Green averaged 6.8 points, 9.6 assists and 9.3 rebounds.
No team will want to face the Golden State Warriors in the play-in tournament, particularly not while Steph Curry is in his current form. He has been helped by the timely scoring form of Andrew Wiggins, who has put up 19.8 points a night in his last ten outings.
Key player - Steph Curry
Steph Curry's electric form from April has continued into May and he deserves to be mentioned in more MVP discussions. The 33-year-old is arguably having the best season of his career for the Golden State Warriors and has continued to tighten his grip on the NBA scoring title. In the two games against the New Orleans Pelicans this week, Curry scored a total of 78 points and dished out ten dimes.
Curry is a joy to watch, regardless of whether you are a fan of the Golden State Warriors or not. He is scoring the ball with ease, no matter who the opponent is. His field-goal and three-point attempts per game are at a career-high as he is sinking 48.5% and 42.6% of them respectively.
Golden State Warriors predicted lineup
Point Guard - Steph Curry l Shooting Guard - Kent Bazemore l Small Forward - Andrew Wiggins l Power Forward - Draymond Green l Center - Kevon Looney
Thunder vs Warriors match prediction
After going through the previews above, it should come as no surprise that the Golden State Warriors will go into this matchup as clear favorites. They have the third-best defense in the league over the last ten games, while the Oklahoma City Thunder have conceded the sixth-most points. Steph Curry, who scored 42 points against the Thunder about a fortnight ago, will look to stuff the stat sheet again.
Where to watch the Thunder vs Warriors matchup
Fans in America can catch the game locally on the Bally Sports Oklahoma and NBC Sports Bay Area networks. It will also be available on the NBA League Pass with a subscription.
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