OAKLAND — Remember once upon a time when the Warriors would lose games in the playoffs? Remember when they actually went down 3-1 to the Oklahoma City Thunder exactly a year ago?
Now that Kevin Durant accompanies a nearly flawless roster, those days of grinding through the postseason are officially over. And whether this breezy path to the NBA Finals will help or hurt the Warriors against the Cleveland Cavaliers (or the two-percent chance the Boston Celtics have) is anyone’s best guess.
Let’s repeat this one final time: This is the best the Warriors have ever been. Not their original come-up in 2014-15 where Steve Kerr shocked the NBA with his tweaks to the way the Warriors played. Not the 73-win regular season team from a year ago where Steph Curry launched 400 3-pointers and became the first unanimous NBA MVP. This year’s version is better defensively, can score in more ways, has a deeper bench and is now operating with two head coaches at the helm.
“I’ve never seen anything like this organization before,” Mike Brown marveled after a 136-100 blowout win in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals over the Spurs.
The Warriors are 10-0 this postseason, they’ve won 24 of 25 since March 11, Curry is playing his best basketball of the season, Durant is isolating at the right times and attacking the rim, Draymond Green continues to hit open 3s. You name the player (besides Klay Thompson right now) or the facet of basketball, and the Warriors are in cruise control. A second-round rookie, Patrick McCaw, fried the Spurs on Tuesday. They are slaughtering teams because they can.
Even in Game 1 — where they trailed by 25 and looked lethargic — you just knew the Warriors were going to come back, and yep, there came the 18-0 run. They’ve caught a tremendously lucky break in Kawhi Leonard’s injury. They also caught a lucky break in February when Durant’s injury wasn’t season-ending. No matter the circumstance, the “Golden State Sweepers” are about to ride broomsticks into the NBA Finals.
“I don’t think (my team) started the game with a belief,” Gregg Popovich said.
So now we engage in a sports debate worth having: Is coasting by each Western Conference opponent a good thing in the long run for the Warriors? Or would the challenge of a lengthy series help sharpen the iron in the long run against LeBron James and the Cavaliers?
Argument A: Coasting is a good thing.
You could make the argument the Warriors were worn down by the end of last year’s NBA Finals. A taxing series against Durant and Russell Westbrook sapped some of their energy — as did relentlessly chasing 73 wins throughout the regular season. So, theoretically, breezing through these 2017 playoffs should keep bodies and minds fresher. It should have the team’s confidence sky-high on a June plane ride to Cleveland. Additionally, banged up Warriors Andre Iguodala (left knee soreness) and Zaza Pachulia (right heel) will be given time to rest.
Hmm. If only it were that simple.
Argument B: Dealing with some adversity in the playoffs can help.
Because the Warriors will waltz into the NBA Finals, every loss against the Cavaliers will be treated with massive amounts of external paranoia. Will the Warriors be able to handle their emotions better than they did last June? Remember, Curry was ejected in Game 6 for throwing his mouthpiece. Green was suspended for Game 5 after a leg shot to LeBron’s groin. Thompson even engaged in a little war of words with LeBron after Game 4.
“I guess his feelings were hurt,” Klay said about LeBron complaining about Draymond’s trash talking.
Two years ago during their title run, the Warriors found themselves down 2-1 to the Cavaliers. Sometimes it can be easier to mount a comeback in a series than it is to fight off an upstart opponent. The Warriors can channel previous adversity if they have to. But this current team is completely different than the one from 2015. They’ve yet to face any serious threat.
This will be Golden State’s third straight trip to the NBA Finals, so they aren’t young, wide-eyed puppies anymore. Still, against stronger competition like what the Cavs will provide, the Warriors are going to lose a game, two, three — possibly the series against Cleveland. How they respond to those losses will determine how much this team has grown in 12 months.
You want the Warriors to play their arrogant brand of basketball, but not at the expense of fueling LeBron. You want the Warriors to be the Warriors, but remain above all the distractions that partly cost them another title last June.
On the other side of the country, the Cavaliers are pretty much in the same situation. They’ve swept both Indiana and Toronto with little effort. They did, however face adversity in the regular season — to the tune of 31 losses and losing the No. 1 seed to the Celtics. As incredible as Curry’s playing, LeBron might be a level above this postseason.
The Warriors themselves ran into their own version of adversity shortly after the Durant leg injury. An east-coast road trip combined with a Splash Brothers shooting slump saw the team lose three games in a row for the first time in three years.
“I kind of like it,” Kerr said about the losing streak at a practice in March.
This is where we’re at. With two games left in the Western Conference Finals against the Spurs, the storyline is already ‘how will the Warriors mentally handle the challenge of the Cavaliers?’
The preseason’s been fun. But I think we’re all ready for the real deal.