The last time that the Houston Rockets (28-25) played the Golden State Warriors (30-21), James Harden, Jeremy Lin and company shot the lights out in a record-tying three-point barrage.
Now these two Western Conference rivals match up for the second time in their four-game season series on Tuesday at the Oracle Arena in Oakland as the Warriors look to bounce back from an 0-4 four-game road trip while the Rockets look to build more momentum in the standings before the All-Star Break.
Houston tied an NBA record for three's in a game, 23, and Lin scored 28 points to lead Houston to a 140-109 smackdown of the Warriors on Feb. 5. However, the Rockets are reeling after having lost two of the last three games, including a 117-111 Sunday loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Golden State is also staggering and looking to recover from Saturday's 116-91 stomping at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. Both benches could be depleted for Tuesday, as key Golden State veteran Jarrett Jack is nursing a bruised shoulder and Carlos Delfino is day-to-day with an elbow injury.
Latinos Post breaks down the key matchups for Tuesday's game:
Power forward: David Lee, Warriors vs. Patrick Patterson, Rockets
Lee, who scored 18 points against the Rockets on Feb. 5, has been struggling in the last five games, only scoring 12 points against Oklahoma City on Feb. 6 and 10 points against Dallas on Saturday. Still, Golden State's lone All-Star is capable of having the kind of game where he can take over offensively.
Patterson had yet another strong game against Sacramento on Sunday with 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting. After struggling in his initial return from a foot injury, he's looking more like the opromising young scorer that Houston needs in its starting five.
Advantage: Warriors
Small forward: Harrison Banes, Warriors vs. Chandler Parsons, Rockets
Banes has been showing some scoring pop as of late, scoring 13.0 points since Feb. 2, though he scored only seven points against Houston last week.
Parsons' red-hot scoring tear was slowed down in a forgettable night against Sacrament Sunday when he shot a dimal 2-for-12 from the field to finish with five points. Still, the young forward is a very good shooter and can score in a pinch.
Advantage: Rockets
Center: Andrew Bogut, Warriors vs. Omer Asik, Rockets
Bogut is questionable for Tuesday after an ankle injury kept him out of Saturday's game against the Mavericks. The seven-footer had an effective game against Houston last time around, scoring 10 points with nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, Asik's offense over the last five games his kicked up, averaging 14.2 points to go with his 13.8 rebounds as he continues to shine in the middle. Asik is coming off a 17-point night against Sacramento Sunday, and if he can get it going on offense, Houston will be that much harder to beat.
Advantage: Rockets
Shooting Guard: Klay Thompson, Warriors vs. James Harden, Rockets
Normally a very productive scorer for Golden State, Thompson was virtually invisible against Houston last week with only six points on 3-of-5 shooting. He's been slowing down in February, averaging only 12.4 points per game after a putting up nice offensive numbers heading into this month.
Harden, meanwhile, has bounced back to regain his juggernaut scoring form, having rattled off 30 points or more in the last three games. When he's on, there are few scorers in the NBA that can touch him. Thompson will likely need help from Stephen Curry to keep Harden contained, but if they can't hold him, Houston's offense could have another banner night.
Advantage: Rockets
Point Guard: Stephen Curry, Warriors vs. Jeremy Lin, Rockets
Lin had a sensational night against Curry and the Warriors last week, dropping 28 points on the Warriors, while Curry had an uncharacteristically quiet night, shooting a woeful 3-for-12 from the floor to finish with seven points.
Since then, however, Curry has rebounded to normal levels in scoring production, coming off an 18-point night against Dallas. Lin's production has been more stable since the Golden State game, taking more shots and scoring in double figures in each of the last three games. The perimeter will be the key for Lin, who lit up downtown with five three-point field goals against Golden State on Feb. 5. Expect Curry to come out aggressively on both sides of the floor. which means It's likely that Golden State won't allow themselves to get burned by Lin a second time, so Lin will have to turn it up a notch in order to keep being productive.
Advantage: Warriors
Bench
Jarrett Jack will likely miss the game thanks to his nursing a bruised shoulder, which is detrimental considering that he scored 20 points against the Rockets last week. Carl Landry, Richard Jefferson and Draymond Green will have to pick up the slack.
Carlos Delfino is still nursing his strained right elbow and shouldn't be expected for the game. They'll need Marcus Morris Toney Douglas and Patrick Beverly to step up and have big games off the bench as they did the last time in order to keep the offense going for Houston.
Advantage: Even
Game time, live score
Game time starts at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, EST. Live score is available via TV Companion, here.
Live Streaming
Live Streaming for the Game is can be seen via NBA League Pass. (Service Provider Required)