Stretch Run

The Golden State Warriors have an even dozen games left to play in the regular season: seven at home, five away.  Though many of their opponents aren't playoff bound, the Dubs have been prone to relax too much with less capable teams, and there are a few opponents that have given them legitimate trouble.  But winning out is not at all impossible.

At the moment they are holding on to the top position in the West, but Denver is right with them.  However, the Nuggets have 13 games left, 8 of them on the road--and they are not a good road team.  The Dubs host them on April 2.

Coach Kerr is signaling that the Warriors are out to win these games, even though resting players for the playoffs could be a reasonable strategy.  And avoiding injury is crucial.

Have the Warriors found a way to integrate Cousins in the offense, by slowing down a bit while still emphasizing ball movement in half court sets?  Now the return of Bogut adds another dimension at the center position.  Cousins is out at the moment with an ankle injury; in case of injury, foul trouble or when more defense is needed, Bogut is another veteran option.

 It is unlikely but not inconceivable that the Warriors will end up with a better won-lost than Milwaukee in the East.  But home court in the West is the first task.  It certainly is an advantage over Denver (though the Dubs have handled them on both courts), and a needed one against the one team that has given them the most trouble this year: Houston.  Nobody knows what their regular season games mean, however, since a key player on one of the teams was out for all of their matchups--and the team that lacked a key member won the game 3 out of 4.