2018 NBA Playoffs: Golden State Warriors vs. San Antonio Spurs preview

3. Are the Warriors ready for an effort-based series?

From an on-paper perspective, San Antonio was a dream draw for the Warriors. No Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns. No Russell Westbrook and Paul George. No Anthony Davis, no Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum and no Utah Jazz team that has blown them out in three consecutive meetings.

Outside of Leonard coming back, this was the one possible draw in which Golden State has no serious personnel issues to worry about.

That does not mean it will be an easy series. The Spurs play with extreme effort and precision, and pick up several buckets and stops every night that other teams simply concede. No team has been conceding those attention-to-detail points like the Warriors of late, and if that trend continues, their talent edge will be cancelled out — or worse.

Steve Kerr‘s team does have a foundation somewhere. They built terrific habits over the previous three seasons, and brought back largely the same roster that was razor sharp all of last postseason. If they cannot find that focus and channel it quickly, this series will drag on much longer than people anticipate.