Preview: The Hamptons Whatever - Warriors, Durant both in their Montana era

Warriors meet up with old pal, Kevin Durant, and his new team (they're very good)

The Golden State Warriors are back at home, and hope to improve on their already impressive win record. Unfortunately, old friend, Kevin Durant is back to visit with his new crew, and the Houston Rockets are actually very good. Disappointing.

Golden State is status quo on the injury front, with Al Horford banged up, and Jonathan Kuminga firmly sitting in limbo.

This is mid home stand, against Kevin Durant and the resurgent Houston Rockets. Expect a playoff atmosphere.

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GAME DETAILS

WHO: Golden State Warriors (10-9) vs. Houston Rockets (11-4)

WHEN: Wednesday, November 26th, 2025; 7pm PST

WATCH: ESPN; NBCSBA

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Who is in the next Hampton Five?

The Warriors aren’t adrift necessarily, but they are in that late Joe Montana era decision phase, trying to find out how far to push the tail end of the career of the players that carried them. The Niners parted with their Montana and Rice, and now Golden State is facing down a rapidly evolving league that may well be exceeding the Warriors’ pace of development.

As trade rumors begin to swirl around the inactive Kuminga, Golden State continues to seek a redefinition of elite. In their recent win over the Utah Jazz, it wasn’t hard to notice the physical discrepancies. The Warriors, by and large, were smaller. And the margin of difference wasn’t a minor thing.

Lauri Markkanen, standing at 7’1” was frequently covered by Gary Payton II, generously listed at 6’3”. I don’t know how many of you have played basketball against a person that is a full foot taller than you, but it is a jarring experience.

This is the moment where the piece goes from a very tactical problem (size, matchups) to a big-picture philosophical one. A transition can make that feel intentional rather than abrupt.

The Jazz game wasn’t just a tactical mismatch - it was an illustration of how the league has shifted around Golden State. The Warriors built their empire on speed, spacing, and feel, but the NBA’s new contenders are combining those same principles with overwhelming physical profiles. Every night, the gap between the Warriors’ ideals and the league’s new realities becomes harder to ignore.The Warriors are in their late Montana era though. It’s becoming more and more tenuous of a proposition, but this core is still viable. Maybe another trade around the edges. Or maybe the front office can trust internal development to carry them into the next phase.

Kevin Durant has moved on¹ and now the Houston Rockets are an entirely new threat in a revived Western Conference. One of the more interesting dynamics tonight will be whether or not Draymond Green plays (currently listed as Probable). The Rockets, with Durant riding shotgun, are quietly becoming one of the more threatening teams in the league. With a wiry mix of veterans and youth, Houston has given Durant another shot at the ultimate dream.

Critically, for tonight’s game, the Warriors are noticeably short-handed in the front court. Even assuming Draymond Green can go, expect more scenes like those we saw against the Jazz, with undersized Warriors matching up against taller players. But this is all in the team’s calculus. Golden State knows that they can’t keep up with the arms race. Fighting against the rising tide by picking younger, more athletic player hasn’t panned out for the Warriors. Instead, they’ve leaned into an operating model that prioritizes right plays. Making the correct pass, with the appropriate level of sloppiness. You don’t want to be stilted, but neither can you have role players flinging turnovers around while chasing assists.

Durant is out tonight, part of an ongoing personal matter. But the matchup still carries a ton of weight. Can Golden State keep the dream alive? Even without Durant, the young core of the Rockets can and will push Golden State to the brink.

The Houston Rockets will be without Kevin Durant for their next two games.

Durant will miss Monday’s contest against the Phoenix Suns and Wednesday’s game against the Golden State Warriors due to a family matter, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Specifics of the family matter are not yet known.

Presumably, Durant will rejoin the Rockets for the second half of their four-game road trip on Sunday. That marks the first of back-to-back contests against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City.

What’s interesting about this contrast in paths is that the Warriors have stayed solid. the core of Draymond Green and Stephen Curry hasn’t wavered, and the Warriors have even managed to successfully gather another championship ring since Durant’s departure.

So, this isn’t the showdown that the NBA schedule makers dreamed of, but there are significant standing implications for both teams amidst an extremely crowded Western Conference playoff bracket.

This is the perfect opportunity for someone from the Warriors to step up. Whether it be Brandin Podziemski or Moses Moody, or Buddy Hield, the secret sauce for this current iteration of the Warriors is that someone random can blow up.

Even without Kevin Durant in the building, this matchup lands in a moment heavy with meaning for Golden State. The standings matter desperately, in a Western Conference where a two-game skid can drop you four spots - but the subtext matters even more. The Rockets represent the league’s onrushing future: longer, faster, unbothered by history, and fully prepared to take what older teams can no longer protect. The Warriors, meanwhile, are balancing on that narrow edge between legacy and inevitability, trying to prove that experience, continuity, and sheer competitive intelligence can still bend the terms of engagement. This homestand hasn’t been about nostalgia; it’s been about discovering who they are now, not who they were.

And that’s exactly why tonight looms larger than the absence of one superstar. These are the games where identity crystallizes. The Warriors won’t have the luxury of size, nor the convenience of perfect health. They’ll need to compensate with precision, with the connective tissue that has defined their championship DNA. Quick decisions, smarter rotations, and the refusal to blink when the physical mismatch is obvious. Somewhere in that mix, as it has so many times before, someone unexpected will have to surge. Maybe it’s Podziemski finding a rhythm, Moody stealing a run of minutes, or a veteran snapping the team into focus with a moment that won’t show up cleanly in a box score.

Golden State doesn’t need to dominate to send a message, they just need to compete with intent. Because if they’re going to write more chapters instead of sliding quietly into their epilogue, it starts with nights like this: undermanned, out-sized, but not out of belief. The Rockets will test every inch of their resolve. The Warriors’ answer will tell us whether the dynasty’s embers are fading… or whether there’s still enough heat left to ignite something real.

Prediction

It’s Thanksgiving Eve, so of course the Warriors deliver a feast of threes and assists. Dubs win, go into the holiday ridings on a wave of success. I’ll spend most of this game making mandu, but will be watching and hoping.

1. Durant has moved on three times, actually, if you’re counting.