After an up and down week on the road, The Golden State Warriors are in need of some R & R. But instead they are in Newark, New Jersey looking to regain some momentum before heading back to the Bay. The W's are trying for back-to-back wins tonight for the first time since the All-Star break as they square off with the New Jersey Nets at the Prudential Center.
Being on the road for the last nine days and with a 9-22 record away from Oracle, the Warriors are definitely missing the comforts of home. But a win tonight would put them at 3-4 for the trip, not too shabby for a team that struggles on the road. Finishing the trip on a back-to-back traveling from the Midwest to the Eastern seaboard is a daunting task for any team, luckily the lowly Nets have been on a little road trip of their own.
The Nets (19-23) haven't played a game since Saturday as they traveled across the pond to London, England for two games against the Toronto Raptors. The Nets won both games, with the last one going into triple overtime before it was decided. All of this is good news for the Warriors, who will hopefully catch a jet-lagged team that is weary from their travels; but that's not even the best part for the W's. Recently acquired All-Star point guard Deron Williams will not be playing tonight, as he is in Dallas with his Wife for the birth of their fourth child. I'd like to personally congratulate Deron and his Wife, and thank him from the bottom of my heart for missing this game for us W's fans.
In their last matchup on January 17th the Warriors beat the Nets 109-100 at Oracle Arena, with Monta dropping 26 and David Lee had 24. Golden State also had a season low 6 turnovers in that game.
Tipoff for tonight's game is set for 4:00 PT and can be watched on CSN Bay Area, or heard on KNBR 1050.