The Golden State Warriors just turned their early season around with an incredibly strong 6-0 run at home - bringing the total run to eight in a row. But the injuries have begun to pile up just as the team hits the road. Guard injuries are mounting: Gary Payton is out with an indefinite knee inflammation, Brandon Williams tweaked his hamstring early in the previous game. Williams’ will be re-evaluated in a week, Payton’s indeterminate absence sounds like a minor issues rather than a major concern, but the real question mark is Will Richard. He’s been upgraded to Questionable tonight and could be available to give it a go despite a reportedly torn ligament in his non-shooting hand1.
Looking at the season stats, those players may not play huge roles on a nightly basis, but the Warriors just lost the players representing the 7th, 8th, and 11th total minutes played so far. Losing them all (again, Richard is going to attempt to give it a go tonight) is a significant wrinkle in coach Steve Kerr’s rotation. Even more, just looking at the total minutes played undersells how critical these players might be on any given night due to matchups.
Tonight will be merciless. The Houston Rockets are more than Kevin Durant’s team. This is a near-perfect blend of old veterans (with Fred VanFleet, Marcus Smart, and Bogdan Bogdonovic) meshing nicely with an elite young core (Jarbari Smith, Amen Thompson, Reed Sheppard, etc.). With Durant service as the focal point on the offensive end, and a team with impressive defensive and Rebounding on the other end, the Warriors will have their hands full tonight!
GAME DETAILS
WHO: Golden State Warriors (8-3) at Houston Rockets (8-3)
WHEN: Tuesday, November 12th, 2026; 6:30pm PDT
WATCH: ESPN, YouTubeTV (Weird channel alert)
Red hot Warriors get a chance to measure up against the West’s top teams
Early season is a weird time. While it’s way too early to say anything definitive, there has been enough basketball for everyone to draw a few conclusions about where teams are likely to fit into the spectrum of excellence. No surprise that the bottom features some standard citizens. The Kings. The Clippers - who have had a tough run-in with injuries and a nasty fallout from paying Kawhi Leonard under the table. The Utah Jazz round out the bottom with their cautionary tale of a failed rebuild that has mired them for a handful of seasons in an ongoing saga of ineptitude and bad outcomes.
So, even before the season started, it was evident that the Warriors were probably not destined for the bottom of the barrell. Not as long as Stephen Curry is here and healthy. But then something magical happened. After a slow start, the Warriors have flipped the entire script and are now (maybe) one of the elite?
Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg has quickly emerged as a legitimate #2 already. He is second in points scored, leads the team in rebounds per game, and has shown an accuracy from deep (44.% on 5.5 threes per game) that really stretches the court. He’s become so critical that Kerr was recently quoted as saying that he wants to have one of either Curry or Yax on the floor at all times. Much like the Rockets, the mix of veterans, internal development (Podz is taking what sure looks like a leap this season), and young talent is all coming together nicely. Plus Golden State is quietly inching closer and closer to getting Moses Moody and Jimmy Butler back. There’s something to believe in here!
The Warriors’ big home stand set a new tone, but it’s not hard to notice that some of those wins were against teams that had issues. The Magic, Clippers, and Pelicans are all decent enough teams, but none of them are at full strength. Now sure, it can be argued that simply not losing the games you’re expected to win are a certain mark of quality, but that’s not really the bar Golden State is trying to limbo under this year. Those wins over the Lakers and Heat though? That’s the level of expectations that are worth focusing on.
On the season, Golden State has the 2nd best offensive shooting percentage (2nd in eFG% per Bball Ref). But this upcoming five game roundtrip is going to be a pressure test of the strong early results for the Warriors. A lot of this centers around Curry. He’s averaging 30.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists, (50.3% from the field and 45.7% from deep, oh and 98.7% from the free throw line) and will be front and center in the opponents’ game plans.
The Rockets are more of a double-headed problem, with Durant (20.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3 assist per game) and Alperen Sengun (21.3 points, 0 rebounds, 7.8 assists) driving the bulk of the damage. Defensively and offensively, there are going to be some interesting, challenging matchups - especially for the Warriors bigs. Already challenged by the departure of Porzingis, the team has found a gem in Charles Bassey.
Forgive me for a little bit of a segue here, but the more I think about this, the more convinced I am that Bassey is playing like a better version of the young Andris Biedrins that was intriguing enough to earn a big multi-year contract. Biedrins wasn't just a useful backup. At his peak, he was a very good starting NBA center. That's what makes the comparison interesting. I’m not saying Bassey is Biedrins;2 I’m saying the Warriors may have found a similarly useful type of player, and perhaps a much more valuable one than his contract suggests. This was one of the key secret sauce ingredients this season: finding value not just financially, but with meaningfully helpful on-court performance.
I’m a visual learner.
Now, Biedrins was just 22 at the time3 and playing on a whacky team that featured Corey Maggette, Monte Ellis, and Stephen Jackson. Bassey is a touch older at 26, and playing on a team with an actual identity and strategy a hair more nuanced than Nellie’s “RUUUUUN” plan. But man. Bassey has really impressed this season. Holding up against the Rockets is going to be a huge test, but I am just delusional enough to think he could be one of the reasons that the Warriors win this game.
This is what games like tonight are good for. We know that this Warriors team is good, perhaps even elite. As the challenge level ramps up, we will see a deeper cut into the soul of this team. Can they win? Yes, absolutely. With Curry continuing to go nuclear and the rest of the roster shining like this, they can beat anyone. Heck, maybe it’s the Rockets that aren’t as good as their record indicates.
Too early for this to be settled maybe, but games like tonight are going to feel like a playoff preview for a reason - these teams can sense that this is the sort of tier of talent that will matter. Whether or not your team can win on any given night is important, but knocking off other top teams is a valuable piece of information - and one that all the best teams know is something everyone keeps track of.
Prediction
There’s probably a typo or two in this article (sorry, big night of beer and pinball with the wifey after a tough day).
Golden State wins, with key contributions from the regulars. Draymond isn’t going to let Sengun or KD take over. Curry, Yax and Podz are going to create enough offensive pressure to break the vaunted Rockets defense. Dubs win a tight one.
Which to be fair in the sport of basketball, one hand is like, half the game.
Whew. Just to be clear.
I just picked that year as his best. Fight me - or find a better one!
BEANS!
Windy, McMahon and Bobby Marks discuss pressure on Warriors to do something https://youtu.be/WwoJjLQUY2g?si=lzsvnfMVUTmOfOCV