Sonics @ Warrriors When: Sat, Jan 10 Where: Oakland Arena Time: 7:30pm Probable Starters NVE/Brent Barry J-Rich/Ray Allen Mike Dunleavy/Rashard Lewis Clifford Robinson/Vladimir Radmanovic Erick Dampier/Jerome James Key Matchup What a matchup this will be. J-Rich has been playing great ball as of late and Allen has been a savior for the Sonics since his return. Warriors Keys to the Game The Warriors to a win, badly. They are finally back at home where they have played excellent ball this year. Troy Murphy is a probable starter, depending how his ankle is feeling. They need Murphy back at full strength if they want to turn things around. Brian Cardinal might be the difference in this one. Musselman needs to give him more minutes. He is doing it all for the Warriors and they need him to be that spark off the bench. Give the ball to Dampier down low! Sonics Keys to the Game by Sir Desmond Seattle need to box out, because despite their form slump, GS are one of the best rebounding teams in the NBA, while the Sonics are one of the worst. Reggie Evans will be a key off the bench here. They also need to feed the ball to Rashard Lewis early and try to get him hot; he is coming off a good game, and should be able to work well offensivley off of Dunleavy Jnr. <font color="Blue">Rudeezy's</font> Prediction The Warriors are back at home, FINALLY! They need to turn things around and saturday night will be a big start. I'm going with the Warriors at home in a close one. Warriors by 3. Sir Desmond's Prediction Sonics by 8.
Hmm... Will be a hard game for both teams but I say that Golden State will use the home court advantage and win by 2-7.
Wow great preview, love the look of this game, very even and balanced. The matchups are gonna rock if one on one defense is used. Two established shooters, NVE and Barry going at it, Cliff, the veteran is gonna shoot the lights out I hope. Rashard Lewis and Mike Dunleavy will be entertaining on the offensive end. As for Allen and J-Rich, that is gonna be a blowout, blow after blow trying to contain and lockdown each other. Hard to say who's gonna win, I think Sonics have the player and matchup edge though. So I say Sonics by 7.
Sonics take this one, I don't think returning home will be enough for the dysfunctional Warriors. Sonics by 7
Wow, what a game of basketball in the end. Warriors finally got the W they needed with an OT win, 113-110. For the Sonics Ray Allen had 28, 8 and 5, but shot only 11-27 from the floor. Rashard Lewis continued his form from Memphis with a 25/9 line, Vladimir Radmanovic had 16 and 7 and Brent Barry posted 8 points, 7 boards and 6 assists. Antonio Daniels had 8 and 9 dimes from the bench. For the Warriors, Cliff Robinson hit 6 of 7 treys to finish with 28 points, while Jason Richardson had 25 and 11, and Nick Van Exel had 13 points and 11 assists. Brian Cardinal had 16 and 9 off the bench. Overall a disappointing loss for Seattle in a game that could have gone either way, but they still remain in the thick of the playoff hunt at 19-16, with a stretch of 7 games against .500 or below opposition. <font size="1">Boxscore courtesy of NBA.com.</font>
I really was hoping we'd go into a double overtime >.< <font color="Navy"><font size="1">EDIT - sorry about the typo, thanks for the heads up - SD</font></font>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting anadagirlballer4strt:</div><div class="quote_post">I really was hoping we'd go into a double overtime >.<[/COLOR]</div> Was definately on the cards, but I guess the chips didn't fall for 'Shard. You win some you lose some I guess; they hit the big shots and we didn't.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting franchise3:</div><div class="quote_post">Tough one to lose for the Sonics, but no one is able to stop Cliff Robinson when he gets going.</div>Some of his 3 point baskets were uncontested though...especially that last one in OT. No one even closed out on him.
Why couldn't Cliffy be that clutch last season? Great game from both teams.Looked as Nick Van Exel was trying to give the game away with his poor free-throw shooting late on.
