Out to continue home success, the Golden State Warriors take on the Oklahoma City Thunder

SAN FRANCISCO – The Golden State Warriors will put their newfound home-court success to the ultimate test on Jan 2 (Jan 3, Singapore time) when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder in San Francisco.

The Warriors have won five of their last six National Basketball Association (NBA) games overall, including their last three at home over the Phoenix Suns, Orlando Magic and Dallas Mavericks.

The league leaders in road games played (20), the Warriors tip off a stretch of 10 of 11 at home, starting with a team who have already won at the Chase Center this season.

But the Thunder have won pretty much wherever they have gone, running up a 12-3 road record with losses only to the Portland Trail Blazers, Minnesota Timberwolves and San Antonio Spurs.

The latter two defeats have come in Oklahoma City’s most recent road contests against the Spurs and Timberwolves. Having played six of their last eight games at home, as well as one in Las Vegas during the NBA Cup competition, the Thunder have not won a true road contest in almost a month, since a triumph at the Utah Jazz on Dec 7.

The defending champions begin a two-game trip on a three-game winning streak, having thumped the Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks and Trail Blazers by a combined 65 points.

The San Francisco Bay Area visit represents a homecoming for emerging Thunder star Jalen Williams, who played at Santa Clara.

He has averaged 15.7 points during the winning streak, but Thunder coach Mark Daigneault was quick to point out after the Portland game that scoring numbers do not tell his entire story.

Williams totalled 19 rebounds, 20 assists and six steals in the wins.

“What makes him a great player is that he’s very good at everything,” Daigneault said.

“That’s really what he needs to hang his hat on. It’s how he established himself as a great player. It’s how to continue to be a great player.”

In a rare NBA matchup of Santa Clara alumni, Williams will go head-to-head in San Francisco with Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski. They missed each other by one year at the school.

Podziemski had three key fourth-quarter three-pointers and 19 points in all in Golden State’s 132-125 win at the Charlotte Hornets on Dec 31. He has scored in double figures in seven of his last eight games.

The Warriors flew home from a 2-1 trip riding the momentum of five consecutive 120-point performances and looking forward to three straight weeks in California. Their only road game in that stretch will be against the Los Angeles Clippers.

“We’ve got to take advantage of it, for sure,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “The schedule was against us for the first couple months of the season, and now it flips back the other way. We’ve got to take advantage.”

Part of the tough early stretch was the pair of early meetings with the Thunder. In a matchup of All-Star guards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander outscored Stephen Curry 28-11 in a 126-102 romp at Oklahoma City in November, before Curry sat out with a bruised quad and watched his rival pour in 38 points in a 124-112 win in a visit to San Francisco in early December.

Meanwhile, in NBA action on Jan 1, Norman Powell scored a game-high 36 points as the Miami Heat took their fourth consecutive victory with a 118-112 triumph at Eastern Conference leaders Detroit Pistons.

Elsewhere, Jaylen Brown recorded 29 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out, but Derrick White scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter as the Boston Celtics notched a 120-106 road victory over the Sacramento Kings.

In Dallas, Tyrese Maxey tallied 34 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds to lead the Sixers to a 123-108 road win over the Mavericks. REUTERS, AFP