Hoops Habit
Fansided

Golden State Warriors: Ranking their greatest threats in the West

By James D. Tillman III

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 15: Kevin Durant #35 hi-fives Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors on January 15, 2019 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - JANUARY 15: Kevin Durant #35 hi-fives Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors on January 15, 2019 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next
(Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) /

Honorable Mentions

The first team on this list is the Utah Jazz. True, Utah isn’t an offensive juggernaut by any means, as it ranks 20th in the league in scoring.

Even though the Jazz are currently tied with the Los Angeles Clippers for the seventh spot in the conference playoff race, it should not be overlooked that this squad is a pretty good defensive team, ranked fifth in points allowed (106.2 points per outing) and second in defensive efficiency (105.7 points per 100 possessions).

At the end of the day, though, there aren’t enough weapons on the roster to keep pace with a Warriors team that leads the league in scoring.

Next up, we have the Portland Trail Blazers. Make no mistake, the Blazers have a very talented backcourt tandem in Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.

The problem is they haven’t much success come playoff time. In fact, Portland has been bounced out of the first round in each of the last two seasons, including a 4-0 sweep at the hands of the Dubs in 2017. In other words, we would probably see similar results if these two teams crossed paths in this year’s playoffs.

The last team in the honorable mention category is the San Antonio Spurs, who are tied for the fifth spot in the West. Following the trade sent the team’s best player in Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors, the question was whether the duo of DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge could help keep the team’s 21-year playoff streak intact.

As the Spurs have done so many times in years past, they managed to bounce back from adversity and are in the thick of the playoff race once again — that’s the good news.

Unfortunately, the Warriors have defeated them eight times in the last nine postseason meetings between the two ball clubs, with Leonard having sat out all but one of those games.

Even though the Spurs just notched an impressive 111-105 victory over the defending champs a couple of days ago, it’s difficult to foresee a scenario in which they would beat the Dubs in a seven-game series.

Home/Golden State Warriors