Golden State Warriors: 5 Takeaways From 1st Round Series

5. The Second Round Will Be Tougher

Dismantling an uninspired Rockets team must have felt good, especially after last year’s MVP race came down to the heated debate of Stephen Curry vs. James Harden. With Curry playing all but 39 minutes in this year’s first round series, the well-rounded Dubs outscored Houston by 60 points in the 72 minutes that followed Curry’s knee injury in Game 4.

For the series, the Warriors were historically dominant, even though the Rockets managed to extend it to five games:

Dub Nation soaked in every moment of it, but the second round will provide a slightly tougher challenge no matter Golden State’s opponent.

Most likely, it will be the Portland Trail Blazers, who stole Game 5 on the road Wednesday night to take a 3-2 series lead. The Blazers already beat Golden State once this season, and that was when they were at full strength. Damian Lillard played exceptionally well against Curry and company in four meetings this year, averaging 36.5 points per game on .475/.511/.871 shooting splits.

Curry was similarly efficient against Portland, but the Dubs won’t have him for at least half the series this time around. Containing Lillard and C.J. McCollum could prove to be a challenge for Klay Thompson and Shaun Livingston, even if Lillard has shot 34-for-94 from the field (36.2 percent) and 13-for-40 from three-point range (32.5 percent) through the first five games of the playoffs.

With the series heading back to Rip City for an elimination Game 6, the shorthanded Los Angeles Clippers will have their hands full to force a decisive Game 7. But even without Chris Paul and Blake Griffin sidelined by injury, if the Clips are somehow able to force Game 7 and advance, that will be a team worth respecting — even if they’d obviously be the more favorable matchup.

DeAndre Jordan is a handful in the middle, J.J. Redick is perhaps the league’s most dangerous off-ball cutter for open threes aside from Klay Thompson himself, and even inconsistent players like Austin Rivers, Jeff Green and Jamal Crawford are one heat check away from keeping things interesting.

Coming off such a dominant, feel-good series against the Rockets, the Warriors are not a team to be taken lightly — Curry or no Curry. But the Clippers wouldn’t make that mistake if they can manage to overcome this 3-2 series deficit, nor would a determined Blazers team with more (healthy) talent that has relished its opportunities to play Golden State all season long.

Next: No. 4