The Oklahoma City Thunder travel to Oakland to play the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena on Tuesday.

The Thunder have an almost identical roster to the one they built last season, as many experts aren't exactly sure what to expect from this team. The departure of Carmelo Anthony appears to be a win, but the fact that this team was so close to missing the postseason has to be worrisome for fans. A 48-win mark looks like an impressive record, but the Denver Nuggets were just two games behind them in the nine-seed in an unbelievably stacked Western Conference. That's scary considering the west is on the uptick, as it may take a 50-win season to reach the postseason this year. What's also frightening for Thunder fans is the status of Russell Westbrook. The MVP point guard had yet another unexpected knee surgery about a month ago and no one knows whether he'll be ready to suit up for this game. Without Westbrook, this is an average team at best and they simply can't compete in the Western Conference without him. That's why Dennis Schroder was the only major acquisition in the offseason, as he could be asked to take on a huge role if Westbrook is to miss time.

The Warriors have built themselves a dynasty, as they come into this season as overwhelming favorites to repeat yet again. Not only has Golden State won the championship in three of their last four seasons, they've added to an already dominant roster. It's wild enough that this team had four all-stars last year but they added arguably the best big man in the league in the offseason. That happens to be DeMarcus Cousins, who is expected to be out a couple more months, as he continues to recover from an Achilles tear. That adds another dynamic to an already dominant team and it's hard to understand how they added someone so good. It's really not about Cousins though, as the core of Draymond Green, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson is the bread and butter of this franchise. That's already a championship team and adding Cousins into that mix is simply not fair for the rest of the league.

Despite the fact that these teams split their four-game season series last year, the Warriors have defeated the Thunder in 12 of their last 15 meetings dating back to 2014.