Golden State Warriors: 5 Keys To Surviving Kevin Durant Injury
2. Maintaining The No. 1 Seed
Before Durant’s injury, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the Warriors would lock up the No. 1 overall seed for the playoffs and enjoy home-court advantage throughout the entire postseason. This is the part where the San Antonio Spurs constantly lurking in the shadows comes into play.
Though the Spurs (45-13) are still four games back in the standings, they’re only three games behind in the loss column. Kawhi Leonard is playing like an leading MVP candidate and San Antonio still has two more cracks at Golden State in head-to-head matchups, both of which are at home at the AT&T Center.
Though the Dubs are still eight games ahead of Cleveland in the standings (for those concerned about losing home-court advantage in a potential Finals rematch), it’s hard to say how Kevin Durant’s absence will impact this Warriors team in the race for supremacy in the West.
Spurs just four games behind Warriors. With KD out 4-6 wks, 1-seed is potentially stealable, making a 2-7 Warriors/Thunder faceoff possible. pic.twitter.com/8QNpvrkjtt
— David MacKay (@DavidMacKayNBA) March 1, 2017
No one will feel sorry for a Golden State squad that still has Curry, Klay and Draymond Green in its starting lineup, but they don’t have Harrison Barnes on the wing anymore, nor do they have Andrew Bogut at center. They’ve drastically downgraded at both positions with KD out and Zaza Pachulia entering the fold, and the next few weeks will be a test for this team’s original Big Three, its bench and its head coach.
If the Warriors can maintain that top record in the West for the next month, split the San Antonio matchups and enter the playoffs with home-court advantage, a returning Durant could very well be enough for a return to the Finals and another championship.
Losing that No. 1 seed and giving an already dangerous Spurs team more momentum, however, would be dangerous with or without a returning KD.