OAKLAND –- After returning to the Bay Area last weekend as their highest fatigue levels this season, the Warriors expect to be refreshed and ready when they open a five-game homestand Wednesday night at Oracle Arena.
They’ll need all the energy they can muster, as the visiting Phoenix Suns are one of the few teams designed to match the furious level at which Warriors prefer to play.
The Warriors (24-1) will be trying to extend their home win streak to 29, the longest since the Bulls won 32 in a row in 1996-97.
The Suns (11-15), who have lost two of their last three, are out to gain consistency. They’ve endured two four-game losing streaks and have won consecutive games only three times this season.
BETTING LINE
Warriors by 12.5.
MATCHUP TO WATCH
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson vs. Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight: Both teams generally follow their starting guards, and both teams have good ones. Curry and Thompson are the league-leading guard scoring duo (a combined 50.2 points per game), while the Bledsoe-Knight twosome is third (42.7). The team that wins the guard battle is all but certain win the game. The two Warriors combined to outscore the two Suns, 56-42, last month.
LAST 10
Warriors: 9-1. Suns: 4-6.
INJURY REPORT
Warriors: F Harrison Barnes (L ankle sprain) and F Kevon Looney (hip surgery rehab) are listed as out.
Suns: No injuries listed.
SERIES HISTORY
The Warriors have won 12 of the last 15 meetings and four of the last five, including a 135-116 win at Phoenix on Nov. 27. The Warriors have won the last seven in a row at Oracle, with the last loss coming on Feb. 7, 2011.
“We’ve got to make sure that we don’t get caught up in the trap of thinking we beat them easily in Phoenix. We hit 22 3s. We don’t want to have to shoot the ball like that again tonight to have a chance to win. If we knuckle down defensively, we think we have a good shot at winning." – Warriors center Andrew Bogut on facing the Suns
