With a few weeks left in the season, the Golden State Warriors had neither. Still trying to adapt to the loss of their latest injured star (Steph Curry), they were losing, and to much weaker teams. After two years recovering from injuries, Klay Thompson was slowly rounding into form, and after his injury, Draymond Green admitted he wasn't playing well. Meanwhile, the Warriors looked like they would drop further down in seeding, and miss any home court advantage.
But then things started to click. The Warriors started winning, Green and Thompson became brilliant again, and the team secured the three seed with a five game winning streak. It looked like Curry would be back for the first game of the playoffs, at home against Denver.
Until the playoffs, the core of stars--Curry, Thompson and Green--had played together for less than 20 minutes total this season. But during all this turmoil, the younger and newer players got plenty of court time, lots of attention from the coaching staff, and all kinds of game experience. Some found solid roles. Two in particular--Jonathan Kuminga and Jordan Poole--were learning so much that they seemed like different players each game. Andrew Wiggins, who played himself into the All Star game in the first half of the season, was up and down, but was starting to settle in as the season ended. By then, Jordan Poole in particular was emerging as a star, a younger version of Steph. Once again, this is a team that is the most fun to watch.
Of course Coach Steve Kerr could not have planned it this way, but he did foresee its advantages. It was clear from earlier in the season that the Warriors have now assembled a very talented group beyond the starters. So when the playoffs began, Poole was starting--and starring--while other players were ready to make the most of their minutes to help the team.
Only time will tell, but it is possible that this is a better team than it was with Kevin Durant. After two overpowering victories in the first round, a gutty win in the third game, and a sweep within sight, people were taking another look at the championship potential of the Warriors--not next year but this year.
As good as the Warriors were in the first half, when they had the league's best record, they are better now. They look devastating against the Denver Nuggets. No one could know what the chemistry would be like when various combinations of this core group played together--Steph, Klay, Draymond, Poole, Wiggins, Kevon Looney and Andre Igoudala. But it's been immediate. There might have been a question about Curry returning from his foot injury, ready to play--but once he became comfortable with the pace of the game, the rest seemed to provide him with the energy in the second game to score more points in the briefest time than anyone else.
Right now it looks like the only thing that can stop these Warriors is... the same thing that has stymied them for the past two years: injuries. The playoffs are brutal. It's going to take that other necessary element to succeed in the playoffs: good fortune. They've had enough of the other kind.
