The Dubs should beat the Portland Trail Blazers Sunday. But when have these Warriors done exactly what they should?
Klay Thompson was feeling confident Friday night, even after a shaky Warriors victory in a must-win game over the Kings.
“I don’t see a team who can beat us in a seven-game series when healthy,” Thompson said.
The Warriors’ wing isn’t unjustified in holding that stance. The Warriors have never lost a Western Conference playoff series when the team’s star trio — Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Thompson — are healthy.
Heck, they’ve even won a few when they weren’t fully healthy.
But that was a different time, and those were different teams.
Those past Warriors squads never needed to win game No. 82 of the regular season to make the playoffs.
These Warriors do.
And if they win that game, they could face a first-round opponent that will immediately test Thompson’s belief.
The spectacle of a Warriors-Suns first-round series would be a boon for the NBA. It would be the Western Conference Finals (at least when it comes to media attention) in April.
But does facing Kevin Durant seem like a good idea for the Warriors?
Alas, that’s looking like a distinct possibility for the Dubs, who have little (if any) control over their seeding and first-round matchup. They squandered that over the course of the last six months. The Warriors are at the mercy of the Clippers, who are at the mercy of the Pelicans. It’s a big, hot mess.
Of course, this all presumes that the Warriors even qualify for the playoffs.
And can you presume anything with these Dubs?
It should be easy enough for the Dubs to avoid the pit that is the play-in tournament. They simply need to beat the tanking Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
But “should” rarely became “did” for these Warriors. And this team has proven it does not do “easy” or “simple.”
The Blazers might be a who’s who of “who is that?” guys. Portland fielded a roster on Thursday that featured six players I can’t tell you a single thing about, and I know a lot of random dudes.
Seriously, do you know anything about Jeenathan Williams (yes, that’s spelled correctly)? How ’bout John Butler Jr.?
They’re not only players — they’re starters for the Blazers, who will be playing the second end of a two-city back-to-back Sunday.
Two more losses would really help Portland improve its odds of landing No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama in the July draft.. That’s all the team is playing for these days — ping pong balls.
This should be the easiest Warriors’ win all season.
Just like Friday’s game in Sacramento was supposed to be easy, right?
Playing no-names — like Friday, when Sacramento rested its best players — hasn’t stopped the Warriors from being gracious guests on the road.
Yes, the Dubs won in Sacramento by 22 points, but Curry needed to play 7:38 of the fourth quarter to put the Kings away, as Jordan Poole didn’t make a field goal, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody struggled to make stops off the bench, and the Warriors turned the ball over 24 times
Former Warrior Zaza Pachulia became a meme when he declared “Nothing easy!” in the 2008 playoffs.
The Dubs have taken that motto to heart this season, losing games they controlled for 47 minutes, putting forward lax effort on a regular basis, and only playing their best for short bursts. Add in the injuries and the absences and the whole campaign has been weird.
So in a game that will go a long way to defining this season, wouldn’t it be appropriate for the Warriors to make winning a must-win game far more difficult than it needs to be?
