Following a tiresome road trip and a thriller of a game at home against the Boston Celtics last Friday, the Golden State Warriors have enjoyed some well-deserved rest. They will return to action against none other than the Denver Nuggets. The two teams last met in late December and Andre Iguodala will be facing his former team yet again.
Keys to the game
Off Eff: Warriors: 103.5 (13th) Nuggets: 104.3 (11th)
Def Eff: Warriors 98.5 (4th) Nuggets: 102.8 (14th)
Go to David Lee
The previous meeting was a low-scoring contest which ended 89-81 in the favor of the Warriors. Despite both teams struggling to find consistent offense and shooting below 43% from the field, David Lee had it going. The Nuggets’ interior defense, highlighted by J.J. Hickson and Kenneth Faried, has struggled mightily this season and Lee abused that last time around by scoring 28 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Seeing the matchup ahead, expect Lee to be licking his chops.
Limit Ty Lawson
Before dropping a game to the Utah Jazz, the Nuggets won five straight. In all but one of those games, Ty Lawson had double-digit assists and was doing a great job distributing the ball and finding either shooters around the perimeter or rolling big men in pick-and-rolls. When Lawson is on the floor, all offense goes through him. The Warriors kept Lawson to just four assists last time around and will need to suffocate Denver’s playmaker once again.
Injuries
Nuggets
Darrell Arthur (Out)
Anthony Randolph (Questionable)
Danilo Gallinari (Out)
JaVale McGee (Out)
Warriors
Toney Douglas (Traded)
Nemanja Nedovic (Out)
Festus Ezeli (Out)
Jermaine O’Neal (Out)
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