Even after falling in the Western Conference Semifinals to the Utah Jazz, the Golden State Warriors ended the 2006-07 season on a roll unlike any the team had experienced in a decade and a half. The Warriors finished the regular season by winning nine of their final 10 games to lay claim to the eighth playoff seed in the West. The fun was only getting started, however, as Golden State rode a raucous atmosphere at Oracle Arena to a six-game upset of the Dallas Mavericks, becoming just the third No. 8 seed ever to knock off a No. 1 seed and the first to do it since the first round was expanded to seven games.
The challenge for the Warriors entering this season was to translate that outstanding run into a full season. Golden State made a major deal, sending guard 
Jason Richardson to Charlotte for the rights to No. 8 overall pick Brandan Wright, but brought back largely the same group.
The Warriors got off to a terrible start, losing in their first six games, but there was an obvious explanation - the absence of swingman Stephen Jackson, suspended by the NBA for seven games to start the season. Upon Jackson's return to the lineup, Golden State caught fire, putting together an 8-1 run to move back into the thick of the playoff race. At 33-22, the Warriors have been winning at a 60% clip despite the slow start. There's only one problem. In the loaded Western Conference, that might not be good enough.
Currently, despite being on pace to win seven more games than they did a year ago, the Warriors sit in the same eighth spot in the West. Even that position is precarious, with Denver just a half-game behind. However, Tuesday's news that Houston center Yao Ming will miss the remainder of the season with a stress fracture in his left foot is a boon to Golden State, currently 2.5 games back of the now-weakened Rockets.
The run up to the trade deadline featured West teams bolstering their lineups for the stretch run. The Warriors did not make a trade, but they did add a free agent in late January, bringing big man Chris Webber back to the place where he started his NBA career. Webber was reunited with Golden State Head Coach Don Nelson 14 years after they led the Warriors to the playoffs in 1994, which was the team's last postseason appearance until 2007. The Nelson-Webber split was hardly amicable, with Webber holding out and demanding a trade, but time has mended the relationship.
Even with the 34-year-old, well-traveled Webber in the rotation, the Warriors continue to play extreme up-tempo basketball. Golden State is second in the league in pace, averaging over 97 possessions per game. Combine that with a team that is already better on offense than defense (unlike the league's fastest team, the Nuggets) and the result is scores out of the 1980s. The Warriors and their opponents average a combined 218.2 points per game, nearly five more points a night than the next highest combined scorers (Phoenix, 213.4).
Much of that Golden State scoring comes from the perimeter trio that carries the team. That starts with guard Baron Davis, who easily could have given the Warriors their first All-Star representative since 1997. Davis has avoided the injuries that have plagued him in recent seasons, playing all 55 games - already a higher total than he's played in three of the last five seasons. A healthy Davis is averaging 22.0 points per game, 11th in the league and tops amongst true point guards. Davis has added 8.0 assists (seventh) and 2.5 steals, which ranks second in the league.
In his third year, defending Most Improved Player Monta Ellis has continued his progression, averaging 18.9 points per game and bumping his shooting percentage to an impressive 52.9%. Ellis has also slashed his turnovers by one a night. Ellis has been especially hot lately, averaging 24.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists in his last 10 games. In that span, Ellis is shooting a lights-out 58.3% from the field.
As impressive as the Warriors backcourt has been, it is Jackson who has taken the critical role of team leader. Jackson is not particularly efficient on offense, firing away despite a below-average 53.5% True Shooting Percentage. He's getting up enough shots to average 20.6 points per game. Where Jackson has really stepped forward is on the defensive end of the court, becoming Golden State's first option to stop high-scoring opposing wing players. The Warriors allow 4.1 fewer points per 100 possessions with Jackson on the floor.
The Seattle SuperSonics head to the Bay Area to see the Warriors for the first time since early December. In that span, much has changed for both teams, with the Sonics making over their roster at last week's trade deadline. Illness, however, has affected the team almost as much as trades. The Sonics will be without starting point guard 
Earl Watson, missing his first game of the season due to illness, and forward 
Damien Wilkins, who has a sprained right wrist. However, forwards 
Donyell Marshall and 
Chris Wilcox are expected to return after missing Sunday's game to their own battles with illness. Marshall, who spent five-plus seasons in Golden State, will likely make his Sonics debut tonight.
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The Sonics and Warriors feature contrasting styles at power forward. Golden State's Al Harrington stretches the floor with his shooting ability. His 118 three-pointers this season are ninth in the league and tops amongst true post players (Orlando's Rashard Lewis also plays power forward and has 155 threes). Harrington actually made the unusual complaint earlier this season that he felt he was playing too much on the perimeter and would like more chances in the post. Sonics forward Wilcox doesn't have that kind of range, but does have the athleticism to stay with Harrington and thrive in the up-and-down style favored by the Warriors. In the last matchup, Harrington hit four threes and scored 20 points, while Wilcox posted 16 points and 11 boards.
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LAST TIME
The Sonics fell behind early and never got back in the game Dec. 2, displaying surprisingly little energy in a 109-96 loss to the Warriors. The Warriors were hot early while the Sonics made just two of their first 11 shots before the game was delayed briefly when a cyberlight in the KeyArena scoreboard caught fire. The break did nothing to change the momentum, as Golden State continued a 12-0 run. The Sonics would get no closer than the final margin of 13 points the rest of the way.
The Sonics shot just 25.0% from the field in the first quarter while Golden State hit 53.6%, including four three-pointers. For the game, the Warriors outscored the Sonics 33-6 from beyond the arc. Only a couple of Sonics were able to get anything going. Wilcox (16 points, 11 boards) posted a double-double and Watson (16) tied his season high in scoring. 
Jeff Green added 13 points and eight rebounds, but all four Golden State starters scored at least 14 points.
Kia Surprising Stat
INJURIES
Sonics - Forwards Donyell Marshall (flu-like symptoms) and Chris Wilcox (upper respiratory infection) are probable. Guard Earl Watson (upper respiratory infection), forward Damien Wilkins (right wrist sprain) and center 
Robert Swift (torn meniscus, right knee) are out.
Golden State - Forward Stephen Jackson (sprained left ankle) is day-to-day. Center Andris Biedrins (appendectomy) is out.
For more analysis before tonight's game, listen to the Sonics Pregame Show starting at 7:00 on KTTH 770 AM.
