2019 NBA Playoffs: Which teams should be the most concerned right now?

6. Golden State Warriors

There’s just something about 3s and 1s with this team, because even years after giving up a 3-1 lead in the 2016 NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors can’t escape the “3-1” jokes — especially after coughing up a 31-point lead in Game 2 of their first round series against the 8-seeded Los Angeles Clippers.

That represented the largest comeback in NBA playoff history, and even worse, the Dubs lost the fifth member of their all-All-Star lineup when DeMarcus Cousins went down with a quad tear that could sideline him for the rest of the playoffs. After losing Boogie and heading back to Staples Center tied 1-1 against a team whose greatest strength — a loaded bench — is arguably Golden State’s most glaring weakness, it might be tempting to wonder for the 100th time if this team is in trouble.

Both in this series and in their quest to capture a fourth title in five years, the defending champs are going to be just fine.

Despite Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell having their way in this series as the leaders of the second unit, the Clippers haven’t taken the Warriors’ best punch yet. They’ve had no answer for Stephen Curry (33.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game on .559/.565/.941 shooting splits ) other than hoping he goes cold as he did in Game 2. Kevin Durant has been going through the motions, and Klay Thompson has yet to score 20 points in a game.

With that historic collapse serving as a wake-up call this team will have three days to stew on, would anyone be surprised if this series was over in five games?