Utah Jazz	@	Golden State Warriors
Oracle Arena 7:30pm | CSNBA Official Game Preview

2011-12 Meetings
January 7, 2012 • Recap
	Jazz	88
	Warriors	87
February 2, 2012 • Recap
	Jazz	101
	Warriors	119
March 17, 2012 • Recap
	Warriors	92
	Jazz	99
April 6, 2012 • Recap
	Warriors	98
	Jazz	104

The Warriors return to Oracle to host the Jazz in a back-to-back for both teams. What to watch for tonight:

• End the slide: After losing their last four, the Warriors desperately need to get a W before they dig themselves too deep of a hole. And with the Heat and Celtics coming in next to finish off the 3-game homestand, this may be their best chance to avoid a seven game — or more — slide here in the early going.
• Crash the boards: The Warriors had a decent start this year in terms of rebounding, but in their last three losses they’ve averaged more than a double-digit deficit. If they’re not going to score like they used to, then they really need to avoid rebounding like they used to.
• Bench production: The Warriors are getting more from their bench this year than last, but that’s a pretty low bar to clear. Assuming Curry is still out, they’ll need some bench production tonight to take the load off the starters — and it would be great to see Thompson build on his solid outing last night (14 points on 6-8 shooting, team-high +8).

Golden State Warriors	@	Los Angeles Lakers
Staples Center 7:30pm | CSNBA Official Game Preview

2011-12 Meetings
January 6, 2012 • Recap
	Warriors	90
	Lakers	97
March 27, 2012 • Recap
	Lakers	104
	Warriors	101
April 1, 2012 • Recap
	Warriors	112
	Lakers	120
April 18, 2012 • Recap
	Lakers	99
	Warriors	87

The Warriors travel to LA to play a Lakers team that struggled early, but has seemingly righted itself behind the return of Andrew Bynum. What to watch for tonight:

• The Interior: Is the Warriors’ interior defense actually improved? They’ll have a hell of a test tonight against the Gasol/Bynum tandem. At least they don’t have to worry about facing Warriors-killer Lamar Odom alongside those two any more.
• Who Can Score? Curry is expected to be out with the ankle, so the offensive load will be back on Monta’s shoulders. Would be a great time for Nate Robinson to get the ball in the bucket in his debut with the team, and for at least one of the Rush/Wright tandem to score some points.
• Stop the Run: I mentioned this in the last preview: the Warriors have given up soul-crushing second-half runs in all of their losses, and it happened again at the end of the San Antonio game. They absolutely have to get this fixed if they expect to win on the road.

Golden State Warriors	@	San Antonio Spurs
AT&T Center 5:30pm | CSNBA Official Game Preview

2011-12 Meetings
January 4, 2012 • Recap
	Warriors	95
	Spurs	101
April 16, 2012 • Recap
	Spurs	120
	Warriors	99
April 26, 2012 • Recap
	Spurs	107
	Warriors	101

The Warriors head to San Antonio tonight to play a Spurs team that just lost Manu Ginobli to a hand injury. What to watch for tonight:

• Scoring: Don’t look now, but the high-scoring Warriors teams of the past have been replaced by a unit averaging…just 89.4 points per night. Sure, the defensive has improved, but at what cost on the other end of the court? Let’s see if they can take the lid off the bucket tonight against a unit that is always well-coached at the defensive end.
• Stop The Run: In their last two games — both losses — the Warriors have fallen apart for at least one large stretch of the second half. This has largely been an offensive problem, but it’s not like they’re shutting the other guys down either when this happens. Can they play a complete game tonight?
• Win On The Road: If this team ever hopes to turn the corner toward respectability, they need to learn to win on the road. Jackson sounded pretty pissed after the last game, so it will be interesting to see if the team responds — or if they start settling into the same ol’ Warriors mentality once again…

UPDATE (Jake): I am going to post odds in some of these pre-game threads if there are no objections.

Warrior’s money: +290; Spur’s Money: -350; Warrior’s side: +7.5 (-110); Total: 192 (-110)

Golden State Warriors	@	Phoenix Suns
US Airways Center 12:30pm | CSNBA Official Game Preview

2011-12 Meetings
January 2, 2012 • Recap
	Warriors	91
	Suns	102
February 13, 2012 • Recap
	Suns	96
	Warriors	102
February 22, 2012 • Recap
	Warriors	106
	Suns	104

The early start snuck up on me so apologies for the late preview — the Warriors get a chance to right their offensive ship and pick up their first road win of the season. Would be a great way to kick off the new year!

Philadelphia 76ers	@	Golden State Warriors
Oracle Arena 6:00pm | CSNBA Official Game Preview

2011-12 Meetings
December 31, 2011 • Recap
	76ers	107
	Warriors	79
March 2, 2012 • Recap
	Warriors	83
	76ers	105

The parade of Eastern Conference teams continues through Oracle, as the Warriors welcome Philadelphia to Oakland. What to watch for tonight:

• Backcourt Swap: Monta is out tonight, but Curry is expected to return. Can Curry repeat Monta’s great 4th quarter performance from the last game, or even play well for the full 48?
• The 5: The Andris/Kwame (Kwandris?) tandem had 17 rebounds in 24 minutes in the last game, and are largely responsible for the Warriors actually having a positive rebounding margin so far this year. Can they keep up this better-than-Tyson-Chandler routine before giving way in the 4th for…
• The Return of Nellieball: As Feltbot has been noting, Jackson has been leaning heavily on a Lee-at-center lineup in crunchtime, and making up for this defensive vulnerability with his strongest defenders at the other positions (Rush and McGuire in particular, along with Wright). Will the trend continue — and will it continue to pay off?

New York Knicks	@	Golden State Warriors
Oracle Arena 7:30pm | CSNBA/NBA TV Official Game Preview

2011-12 Meetings
December 28, 2011 • Recap
	Knicks	78
	Warriors	92

The homestand continues as the Warriors face the Knicks in their only meeting this season. What to watch for tonight:

• The Point: Curry is out, so it will be interesting to see how the PG minutes are split tonight. Will we finally see some Jenkins?
• Regrets: Will Tyson Chandler make the Warriors wish they could have…I dunno, played in New York and already had two high-profile (albeit overrated) big guys on the team to draw him there?
• The Bigs: Speaking of the NY front line, how will the Warriors be able to size up against the Knicks? Brown had a solid defensive outing last game, and Biedrins has given us all a glimmer of hope that we won’t regret Lacob burning the amnesty. Will Udoh and Lee join them to put up a strong front-court effort against the NY stars, especially on the defensive end?

Chicago Bulls	@	Golden State Warriors
Oracle Arena 7:30pm | CSNBA Official Game Preview

2011-12 Meetings
December 26, 2011 • Recap
	Bulls	91
	Warriors	99

After a dismal finish to last night’s game, the Warriors get right back up on the horse and welcome a strong Bulls team to Oracle for their only meeting of the year. What to watch for tonight:

• Curry’s Everything: He toughed it out last night on his bum ankle, but with bad shooting and costly turnovers (and decent-looking backup PG play from Ish Smith in limited minutes) it’s arguable whether or not he should have. Can he rebound with a decent floor game tonight?
• Biedrins’ Resurgence: One of the few pleasant surprises last night was a solid game from Biedrins. He showed a few flashes last year, but could never string together a consistent streak of strong play. Can he buck that trend and start off this new season with a solid stretch of games right out of the gate?
• The Newcomers: Brandon Rush was everywhere last night, and Smith looked like a more than serviceable backup PG. Thompson’s shooting woes continued, but didn’t seem lost, had some big buckets late, and didn’t look nearly as bad on defense as I was expecting. If Udoh and Brown could play a bit better, I might start feeling pretty good about the Warriors’ bench this year.