If you were born after 1994 you have no idea what it's like. If you're a long-time fan, you might have a hazy, vague recollection of it. If you come from places like Los Angeles, Chicago, or Miami, you desperately miss it. We're talking a big game -- more specifically, a Warriors big game. An important game. A game that means something besides wrapping up a Lottery pick or nudging out Seattle or Memphis for the 11th overall spot in the Western Conference.

Tonight the Warriors play the Indiana Pacers in their biggest, most important game of this season or possibly the last 10 seasons. If the Dubs win, their slight hopes for the last playoff spot in the WC remain on life support; if they lose, consider the plug pulled on yet another failed season.

Tonight is also the first game in which the Warriors will face former teammates Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Ike Diogu, and Keith McLeod, players jettisoned from the roster with extreme prejudice last month as part of an eight-player trade. This adds another delicious layer of significance to tonight's game because there is no love lost between the players involved and their former teams.

The Warriors are still afloat, but the season is sinking fast. A loss tonight and they'll have to add a spot for Davy Jones to the team's locker room. Photo from Hydrolance.net.

Why is tonight's game so important to the Warriors? Because if they win tonight, they will improve to 2-3 on the current road trip. As we pointed out last week, it is imperative that the Warriors at least break even on this road trip if they have any hopes of keeping their playoff dreams alive. After extremely disappointing tank jobs against Cleveland (even without LeBron) and Atlanta to start the trip, the Warriors squeaked out a W against the woeful 76'ers, but face-planted to yet another come-from-ahead loss against the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday night.

Clinging to life on this 1-3 road trip, the Warriors need to beat Indy and Minnesota to finish 3-3. If they stumble tonight, a losing road trip is guaranteed, and probably so is another off-season that starts at the end of April.

Beating Indy will be no easy feat though. In addition to the Warriors putrid road play (5-18) this year, the Pacers have won 4 in a row against our hometown boys and 9 of the last 11 encounters. The last time the Warriors faced the Pacers was back on November 29 in the O-rena. The game ended badly for the Ws as they blew a fourth quarter lead and Stephen Jackson nailed a shot at the buzzer to win it for Indiana.

In addition to the pressure of playoff urgency, the Warriors also face the specter of bad decisions past when they take the court tonight against the Pace Cars. Most Warriors watchers are in general agreement that last month's trade was a breath of fresh air that was badly, badly needed. But for the Warriors, not much has changed. While the Pacers have won six of their last seven games, including three straight, since the trade, the Warriors have done a 3-5 backslide.

Jackson and Al Harrington, both key components in the trade, have played well for the Warriors. Jackson is averaging 14.6 points per game (ppg) as a Warrior and Harrington is pouring in 20.4 ppg for Golden State, including a game-winning drive to the hoop against former Warrior number one overall pick Joe Smith and the Sixers on Friday night.

On the other end of the trade, Troy Murphy broke his nose again, but is averaging double-doubles for the Pacers as their starting center. Dunleavy still sucks, but he's once again getting the benefit of the doubt, with Pacers coach Rick Carlisle now the one being forced to apologize for Dunleavy's weak play with comments like he's "just a real solid basketball player." Keep telling yourself that Rick. Even Diogu is flexing his statistical muscles a bit, knocking down a season-high 19 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in 23 minutes against Memphis on Saturday.

Despite the punditry, it's a wash at this point as to who has gotten the better part of the trade, but there is no doubt that bad blood prevails on both sides. Harrington smacked off, "both teams are going to be battling for who got the better end of the trade in one game -- I'm sure them guys are really going to try to stick it to (Warriors coach Don Nelson), and Jackson and myself to (Pacers coach Rick Carlisle)." Them's fightin' words.

Which leaves the fans with a pretty intriguing game. The Warriors are fighting for their lives. Harrington and Jackson want to show Rick Carlisle that it's not them it's him. Murphy and Dunleavy feel that they have something to prove to the Warriors organization and the fans that hated them in Oakland. Diogu probably wants to hand Don Nelson a huge shit sandwich for the doghouse abuse that Nellie gave him this season.

With playoffs spots hanging in the balance and personal vendettas charging the atmosphere, this is one Warriors February road game that is worth checking out. Hopefully it won't be the last one worth watching this year.