Champs, Part One

Steph Curry for the Warriors' last regular season game at Oracle;
the team wore throwback uniforms from the "We Believe" era.

On Sunday in the last regular season game ever in Oracle Arena, the Golden State Warriors beat the LA Clippers to clinch the Western Conference championship, and home court advantage throughout the conference playoffs.

The Dubs led at the half but put the game away with an astounding 42-18 third quarter, leading to the 131-104 victory.  Steph Curry followed his 40 point game with 27.

But with only three days left in the regular season, only two things are certain for the Warriors: they will have home court advantage throughout the western conference playoffs, but not the finals, if Milwaukee is their opponent.  Otherwise, almost everything is still to be determined.

The western conference teams are set, but there are battles for seeding, principally at the top and at the bottom. At the bottom, the Spurs and Clips have identical records, with OKC having the same number of wins but down one in the loss column.  At the top, the Nuggets and Rockets have both won 53 games, with the Nuggets up one in the losses.  But Portland is close enough to move up.  In fact, the whole seeding after Golden State could change by the end of the season this week.

Things are a little more stable in the East, though the eighth position is still up for grabs. Detroit, Charlotte and Miami all have a mathematical chance.  Brooklyn and Orlando are in, but have identical records, so the seeding at the bottom is still open.

Coach Kerr will rest his top 8 players in the two remaining games (four each game), both on the road.  The only drawback to losing these games is losing the possibility of home court over Toronto, if that's the finals match-up.

There isn't much doubt that the greatest challenge to the Dubs in the West is once again the Houston Rockets.  The Rockets are peaking at just the right time, as are the Warriors.  Both teams are healthy going into the playoffs.  I haven't followed the Rockets to know if any other western team poses a significant challenge to them, but the Warriors know how to beat their other possible conference opponents.

Even though the absence of Lebron seems to make the finals easier, the eastern field is actually stronger this year.  Any of the top four teams is capable of winning games against the Warriors, and since they don't play each other much, there is an element of unpredictability.  Generally the West is still stronger, but it's not the clear western dominance this year as it has been in recent years.