The plain fact about the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs is that this is a team no one has seen before. Comprised of veterans with championships and acknowledged greatness, and younger players of immense potential, it is nevertheless a new team. With key players getting injured and returning from injury throughout the second half of the season, this is a team that has never played together before, until the playoffs. That's also because the players who got more minutes than they otherwise would have with one star or another out, are themselves different players because of that.
The Warriors won their first round series against Denver and last year's (and perhaps this year's) regular season MVP, with two blowout wins and two character-builders--three if you count the one they lost. They get an extra day or two of rest on their next opponent, and they are still healthy. Best of all, Steph Curry came back in this series with a quick return to top form. He took over the last minutes of the deciding game.
Now suddenly the Warriors are the favorites to win the NBA championship. Excessive enthusiasms one way or another have become the hallmark of sports coverage and the echo chamber of sports pundits. And it's true that this Warriors teams, like some of the championship years, at times seems otherworldly. When they are playing well this team is more dazzling and fun to watch than any other.
But they are a new team, and prudence suggests their crowning after one round is premature. I'm a Warriors fan but I have no idea how this team will fare against any of their opponents, because this particular team has never played them.
If you're going by the fact that no other team in the West won their first round--usually the easiest for the higher seed--in five games, that shows vulnerabilities but not necessarily to the Warriors. However, with the decline of Phoenix in the playoffs, it's not a bad bet that the Warriors will emerge champions of the West, ultimately.
But in the East, the Boston Celtics didn't just win in five--they swept a team many pundits picked to win it all, the Brooklyn Nets. The Celtics specialize in brutal defense--and I mean brutal in both senses of the word. If they come out of the East, the Warriors will likely be tested.
But that's a month away. These Warriors are still a new team in the second round, and if they get through that, the third. It's going to be exciting--maybe too exciting--but anyway, exciting.
