The third of four seasonal meetings between the Trail Blazers and Warriors takes place in the Rose Garden, Sunday night at 6. But this contest will be much different then the first two -- both in Golden State. For one, LaMarcus Aldridge will be in the lineup this time around after landing awkwardly on his ankle Valentines Day night against the Wizards which sidelined LA for a couple of games, including February 15th's game in Oakland which the Trail Blazers won 93-91. And two, the Warriors will be without Steph Curry who is on the shelf with a bum ankle and his former running mate in the backcourt was dealt to the Bucks. 

Out are Ellis and Curry and in are Nate Robinson and rookie Klay Thompson. It may very well end up being an all-rookie backcourt for the Dubs when they battle the Blazers as Nate Robinson injured his hamstring in the second quarter of their win Saturday night at home against the Kings. Charles Jenkins, the rookie from Hofstra, would likely get the start if Nate's hamstring isn't 100% and considering that this will be the second game in as many nights, my money would be on Jenkings running the point. But the player to watch is Klay Thompson, which some of you may know from his collegiate days at Washington State. The sharp-shooting rookie is the read deal and is coming off of a career-high night as he scored 31 points on just 20 shots, including 4-9 from downtown. Wesley Matthews will have his hands full as Klay is constantly moving. He's not just going to wait quietly in the corner for the opportunity to shoot. Without Bogut and Curry, Thompson is the go-to backcourt scorer. But if anyone is up to the challenge it's Matthews who stymied Kobe Bryant Friday night in L.A. After Kobe hit five shots in the first quarter, Wes shut him down, not allowing Bryant to hit a single field goal the rest of the way. 

Along with Thompson, Golden State's other money-man is David Lee. Lee has given the Trail Blazers nightmares in both outings so far this year, averaging 27.5 points, on 61% field-goal shooting, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists. And he'll be coming into the Rose City with momentum after nearly putting up a triple-double against the Kings where he scored 22 points, gabbed 14 rebounds and dished out 9 assists. The Blazer bigs did a great job against the Grizzles on the boards, limiting their advantage to only +4 but against Los Angeles, their inability to secure rebounds was the deciding factor. When the dust settled, the Lakers had an unthinkable 53-29 edge on the backboard. Considering the Trail Blazers were within one on multiple occasions deep into the fourth quarter, its not to far fetched to think that just grabbing a defensive rebound here or there could have turn the tide in Portland's favor. It seems like rebounding is always going to play a major role in winning or losing the rest of the season, especially without Wallace and Camby, but that's just the name of the game the rest of the way.

Golden State is short-handed and if Portland can contain either Thompson or Lee, they'll be in good shape barring the usual suspects (Aldridge, Batum, Matthews) play up to par. One final thing to watch for is three-point defense. The Warriors have a plethora of shooters, such as Thompson, Rush, and Wright and our perimeter defense has been questionable this year. If we don't get out on their shooters, especially early on in the game, it could be a much tighter contest then previously anticipated. I say we need to not let them get going early on because that will only fuel their confidence the rest of the game. A perfect example would be that Valentines Day game against the Wizards where Jordan Crawford, John Wall, and Nick young got heated up in the first quarter and never came close to cooling off.