Golden State Warriors: Enough with the late-season boredom play

Sure, the Golden State Warriors historically face lulls late in the regular season. But when do this season’s up-and-down tendencies simply become too much?

No one will beat the Golden State Warriors, they said. They’re the best team in the NBA, they said. This dynasty cannot be conquered, they said.

Anyone else nervous?

With all the hoopla surrounding the Warriors, now complete with All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins, something seems off in the Bay Area.

Sure, they (sometimes) kick the crap out of teams like the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets. But other games, the Dubs are seemingly absent — not just playing poorly, but so far removed that they could have remained at the hotel.

The regular season is long. It’s longer if the entire time is spent waiting for the playoffs. Being heavily favored isn’t always good for teams of any sport. Warriors fans are seeing proof of this in real-time.

Golden State considers itself so much better than teams like the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks, it feels no exertion of effort is necessary to win. So the Dubs lollygag onto the court, lose in embarrassing fashion, and then blame nonsensical factors, such as home fans who were stunned into silence by the lackadaisical effort.

Anyone else nervous?

Defenders of the style say Golden State activates greatness when it needs to. And to be fair, this team usually do. Opponents are better in the playoffs, and the Warriors have proven themselves capable of downing stellar opponents in a seven-game series.

But sometimes weaker opponents are less assured wins for the Warriors. As previously mentioned, they’ve recently suffered illogical losses to the Suns and Mavericks. The squad sometimes looks too far ahead, resulting in a horrid sluggishness that trips them at the knees.

It’s for this reason that 2019 could be particularly dangerous: As the current No. 1 seed, the Dubs could be matched with a low-powered, borderline rebuilding Los Angeles Clippers, a veteran San Antonio Spurs group, a dangerous Oklahoma City Thunder squad or a solid Utah Jazz group.

Then what happens? Will the convincing winners of a cool 2018 NBA Finals sweep reappear? Or will the squad wait, take their time, play it cool?

Sometimes, turning it on when you want doesn’t work as envisioned. What happens if the Warriors loaf onto their home court and lose the first two games? A tough, grinding series in early rounds is the best way to lose championship favoritism. Then when a determined, well-rested Houston Rockets team shows up to deliver a knockout punch, the Dubs may already be tired.

As humans, we’re often creatures of habit. When it comes time to break a bad habit, the correction doesn’t always take place as instantaneously as we may believe it to.

A children’s story, Aesop’s Tortoise and the Hare, illustrates a similar point. When the heavily-favored hare loafed on its “easy business” of racing a tortoise, the turtle took a slow, steady path to the win. Here’s a question: Which NBA team resembles the over-confident hare?

This may be a simpleton children’s lesson, but the Warriors might be surprised by how swiftly the tables can turn.

Anyone else nervous?

The time to play hard is now, nine games away from regular season’s end. Momentum carries over — good or bad — and this year’s Western Conference is no slouch.

The Golden State monster is far too great a force to be sharing the West lead with the Nuggets. It’s high time for the Warriors to spring into action, before finding themselves on the wrong end of a historic collapse.