The Golden State Warriors did not finish was the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for the first time in four seasons this year and are going into the playoffs having lost 10 of their last 17 games. However, many still believe this team will win their third championship in four seasons despite having a worse record than both the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors. And, as you can imagine, a season with more adversity than normal was telling about this group. Here are five things we learned about the Warriors this year:
1) The Warriors aren't panicking
Golden State has been very clear that they aren't panicking this season. Kevin Durant said as much after they lost the season series to the Rockets in January.
"The season starts over when you're in the playoffs anyway, so it doesn't matter," Durant said after the loss. "You're going to have to get through these teams to get to where you want to go. You have to play at home and on the road, so it really doesn't matter. We just want to be playing good basketball when it comes down to that point."
Would the Warriors prefer to have the No. 1 seed, the best record in the NBA, and have swept the Rockets and other top teams? Absolutely. But it's clear that it was never a priority.
2) They don't care about the regular season
Why? The Warriors don't care about the regular season anymore! Remember, they had the best regular season in NBA history two years ago and lost in the Finals. They know all the matters is getting to the postseason healthy and they feel they can flip the switch then. This group has also played more basketball than any other team over the past four years, so you can't blame them for taking a mental break from time to time - we've seen many other championship-caliber teams do this (LeBron James teams have been doing it all decade).
3) Injuries had almost everything to do with them finishing No. 2 in the West
To make matters worse, the Warriors have dealt with more injuries than perhaps any other team in the league outside of the Boston Celtics. Stephen Curry has missed time this year with two ankle injuries and an MCL injury, Klay Thompson had a fractured finger, Kevin Durant had fractured ribs, and Draymond Green dealt with a shoulder injury and groin contusion - and many of their role players missed significant time, too.
Only five players played in at least 70 games this season and 10 players appeared in less than 60. That's not good and also contributed a great deal to their regular-season struggles.
However, these problems are still lingering with Curry expected to miss the entire first round of the playoffs.
4) Golden State needs a healthy Stephen Curry in the playoffs
Curry is obviously important to the Warriors, but just how important? Since signing Durant, Golden State is 16-9 in games in which Durant has played without Curry - compared to 22-0 in games where Curry played without Durant. His shooting and vision is the key to their offense and they've shown throughout this run that they're a much lesser team without him. They need him healthy if they're going to win another title.
5) Game 1 of the first round will be telling
There are many reasons why Game 1 of Golden State's first-round series will be telling.
First, are the Warriors able to flip the switch? They've gone through the season believing they can and, considering the way they've stumbled into the postseason, they need to turn their game around as fast as possible.
Secondly, can they survive a round without Curry? The bottom of the Western Conference playoff picture is much stronger than in past years and a potential first-round matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder could be very tricky.
If the answers are yes, any concerns about this team can be quelled. However, if the answers are no, those concerns will become much more valid.
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