OKLAHOMA CITY – The Golden State Warriors begin a pivotal six-game road trip early in their season on Tuesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Warriors should have a significant piece back for the game. Stephen Curry, who has missed three consecutive games due to illness, is expected to make his return in Oklahoma City.
“We play some really good teams on the road,” Warriors veteran Jimmy Butler said.
“But you gotta win some of these to show that you can compete with the best of them. Obviously, if we got (Curry) our chances of winning goes up drastically. But even if he isn’t ready to go, we still got to go out there and we’ve got to compete because it’s very possible that we can win.”
Golden State is 1-5 away from home this season.
In addition to Tuesday’s matchup against the defending NBA champions, the trip includes back-to-back games against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, plus games at New Orleans, Orlando and Miami.
The Warriors are coming off a 114-83 win over Indiana on Sunday.
A successful road trip could go a long way toward helping Golden State’s case to be a contender in the Western Conference.
“I think it’s significant,” Al Horford said. “I know it’s still November, but it’s a big challenge for our group and the way to address it, and I know that we will: We’ll take it a game at a time and we can’t overlook anyone. You know, all I’m thinking about is OKC. They’re playing at home, they play really well, defending champs.
“So we can’t even think about the rest of it, just have to focus on that first one.”
The Thunder are coming off a 114-100 victory over Memphis on Sunday, a game in which they trailed by 19 before storming back for the victory.
Oklahoma City has won back-to-back games and is an NBA-best 10-1 this season, including 4-0 at home.
The Thunder have been without Luguentz Dort, one of the league’s top defenders, for each of the last three games and four of the last five. Dort suffered a shoulder injury in the Nov. 4 win over the Clippers.
Meanwhile in NBA action on Monday, Wembanyama scored 38 points to go with 12 rebounds and drilled game- tying and go-ahead 3-pointers in the final minute as the San Antonio Spurs defeated the host Chicago Bulls 121-117.
Luka Doncic poured in 38 points and the visiting Los Angeles Lakers pulled away from the Charlotte Hornets in a 121-111 victory.
Cade Cunningham scored a career-high 46 points as part of a triple-double as the host Detroit Pistons rallied from a double-digit deficit in the final five minutes of regulation to pull out a 137-135 overtime win over the Washington Wizards. REUTERS
NBAGolden State WarriorsStephen Curry