The Golden State Warriors play host to the Los Angeles Clippers at Chase Center on Thursday.

Los Angeles is the last team to play their first game, and it's undoubtedly one of the most fascinating teams in the NBA. While the expectations are high, we need to scale them back with Kawhi Leonard missing so much time. The superstar forward tore his ACL near the end of last season, and it's possible that he won't be back until the end of this season. That leaves a lot on the shoulders of Paul George, but he'll be just fine. Where they really need to see some improvement is from their role players. Guys like Reggie Jackson, Terance Mann, and Ivica Zubac need to continue to grow because if they don't, this could be a long season for this shorthanded club.

The Warriors (1-0) had a bunch of question marks themselves, but they showed some serious resiliency in the opener. They went into Los Angeles and handed the Lakers a 121-114 defeat on Tuesday night. They grabbed that win without Klay Thompson, which is impressive since Stephen Curry struggled with his shot. He did record the eighth triple-double of his career, though, and it's clear that he knows he needs to do more than just score. The sneaky boost for them was their bench, getting a double-double from Nemanja Bjelica en route to a 55-29 scoring advantage. He's someone that no one talked about in the offseason, but he's quietly been a great piece for most of his understated career.

Los Angeles won the season series over Golden State, 2-1, last season. That gives the Clippers five wins in their previous six meetings with the Warriors dating back three years.