Golden State Warriors: 5 Takeaways From 1st Round Series
1. The Warriors Are Poised To Survive Curry Injury
By closing out their first round series Wednesday, the Warriors provided the entire roster with as much rest time as possible. If the Blazers-Clippers series goes to seven, that will buy the Dubs a few extra days, postponing the start date of Golden State’s second round series from May 1 to May 3.
But in either case, even with Curry sidelined for another two weeks or so, the Warriors are still in a good place. They avoided putting extra miles on the key players by closing out Houston, and even better, they’ll be facing a very beatable team in the second round either way.
Oh, and apparently Curry is on the right track to an imminent recovery:
Warriors guard Stephen Curry is starting to feel better and is expected to begin testing his knee on the court next week, a source said.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) April 28, 2016
If the Warriors get the Clippers, they’ll be playing a wounded and deeply flawed team that’s missing its two best players. Even with CP3 (four games) and Griffin (two games) this season, the Dubs went a perfect 4-0 against Lob City. Without them, the Clippers are in for a very rough time, especially if the Dubs play with as much confidence as they did against Houston.
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If the Warriors get the Blazers, they’ll be in for a tougher challenge, but it’ll still be a winnable series. The Dubs shouldn’t rush Curry back, but even if Portland makes it a series early and manages to steal a game on the road at Oracle, his projected return date would be around Game 4 or Game 5 of that series — more than enough time to close out an inferior opponent.
The Blazers were ranked 20th in defensive rating during the regular season, which means they’d have a hard time stopping the Dubs’ high-powered offense with or without Curry. Lillard and McCollum would present a problem on the other end, but the Warriors were the NBA’s fifth ranked defense. Between that and the Oracle advantage, Golden State could win that matchup too.
Losing your best player for at least two weeks in the middle of a playoff run would normally doom a title contender, but the Golden State Warriors aren’t your normal title contender. By virtue of a favorable second round matchup and a deep, cohesive bench, the Warriors are good enough to advance to the Western Conference Finals and get their MVP back when they need him the most.
More hoops habit: Golden State Warriors: 5 Keys To Surviving Without Steph Curry
The Spurs have to be the favorites out West until Curry returns, but if the Dubs can take care of business in the second round, buy Steph some extra time to fully recover and welcome him back at 100 percent, Golden State’s title hopes will still be very firmly intact.