Golden State Warriors: 5 Midseason Takeaways
1. The Warriors Are The Only Team That Can Beat The Warriors
Cut to outraged Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs fans, but it’s the truth. It’s not about favoritism, disrespecting anyone, or ignoring the fact that three of the Dubs’ seven losses have come against the other three best teams in the NBA (Spurs, Rockets and Cavs).
It’s about what the advanced statistics and the eye test tell us, and what they should tell us is that this team is in a whole different stratosphere when it brings even its B-game.
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Take a look at those losses. The one to the Spurs was on opening night and entirely too predictable in Kevin Durant’s first game with the team. The Rockets loss took double overtime and a 29-15-13 triple-double from James Harden. The Cavs loss saw the Dubs lead by 14 points early in the fourth quarter before a late-game collapse, which required an impossible Kyrie Irving turnaround jumper.
The Warriors have since avenged every one of those losses save San Antonio, walloping the Cavaliers by 35 at home and storming into Houston for a 17-point revenge game.
The Dubs have the NBA’s best record and are on pace for 69 wins just a season after winning 73. They have the league’s best point differential at +12.7, which is not only 3.6 points better than the next closest team, but trumps even last season’s historic +10.8 mark.
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Not only that, but they’re the NBA’s top ranked offense AND top ranked defense. LeBron James is the one player Golden State doesn’t have an answer for in a potential championship series, but assuming Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson don’t go completely MIA again, the only team that can beat the Warriors is the Warriors.