The Docket 1/17: Warriors, Thunder—Once More Into The Breach
By Phil Watson
Nov 29, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook (0) and Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) celebrate an overtime victory over the Golden State Warriors at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Thunder defeated the Warriors 113-112 Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
The first time the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder met, on Nov. 14 at Oracle Arena, Andre Iguodala buried a buzzer-beater to lift the Dubs to a 116-115 win.
The second time the teams met, on Nov. 29 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook knocked down a corner 3 with 0.1 second left in overtime to give the Thunder a 113-112 victory.
The rubber match, at least for the regular season, is Friday night back at Oklahoma City.
The Warriors have lost their last nine visits to Oklahoma City, with their lone win over the Thunder on the road coming in the teams’ first meeting after the Thunder were stolen from moved from Seattle. That was a 112-102 Warriors win on Dec. 8, 2008.
Golden State visited OKC twice last season and it didn’t go well—a 119-109 loss on Nov. 18, 2012, and a 119-98 thumping on Feb. 6.
Tipoff is 6:30 p.m. Pacific.
The rest of The (light) Docket for Friday night is:
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Cal Golden Bears at Arizona State Sun Devils, 10 a.m.
A bagel, maybe some coffee and … basketball? That’s the morning slate from Tempe on Friday, where the Golden Bears and Sun Devils tip off for a little late-morning action.
Cal leads the all-time series 32-30 and won last year’s lone meeting in Berkeley 66-53. The Golden Bears have won three straight overall in the series, including a 67-62 victory in their last visit to Tempe in 2011-12.
NBA: Sacramento Kings at Memphis Grizzlies, 5 p.m.
The Kings and Grizzlies hook up for the second of their three regular-season meetings, with Memphis winning the first meeting in Sacramento 97-86 on Nov. 17.
Sacramento is 6-16 against the Grizzlies on the road since the Grizzlies moved from Vancouver in 2001 and has lost the last seven times there.
The Kings’ last win at Memphis was on Feb. 20, 2009, a 115-106 victory. In two meetings in Memphis last season, the Grizzlies were 85-69 winners on Jan. 18 and 108-101 victors on Feb. 12.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Stanford Cardinal at Arizona Wildcats, 6 p.m.
The Cardinal are 58-12 all-time against the Wildcats, including a 22-8 mark in Tucson. Stanford has won their last eight trips to Arizona, the last coming in the 2011-12 season, a 91-51 victory on Feb. 4, 2012.
The last time Stanford lost to the Wildcats was an 88-83 setback in Tucson on Feb. 5, 2004. The lone meeting last season was at Maples Pavilion, a 73-43 Cardinal victory.
Saturday Lookahead
NBA
Warriors at New Orleans, 5 p.m.
NHL
Sharks at Tampa Bay, 11 a.m.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
San Jose State at Wyoming, 1 p.m.
Washington State at Cal, 1 p.m.
Pacific at Saint Mary’s, 5 p.m.
BYU at Santa Clara, 7 p.m.
Cal State Fullerton at UC Davis, 7 p.m.
San Diego at USF, 7 p.m.
Eastern Washington at Sacramento State, 7:05 p.m.
Washington at Stanford, 8 p.m.