The NBA’s mid-range game is a lost art because it’s an inefficient one.

Remember in years past when analysts would bemoan a player’s lack of jump-shooting prowess from 15-22 feet? Those days are over – the people who cover the league have finally adapted to its sea-change with regard to offensive and defensive philosophies.

What are they? Basically, that a good offense is made by a majority of shot attempts coming near or beyond the three-point line and a good defense is marked my limiting them.  It’s simple logic; the closer a shot is the easier it becomes for the most part, and three-pointers, after all, are called that for a reason.

In terms of efficiency, a jumper outside the paint but inside the arc pales in comparison to shots closer and farther.  The team-wide league average on shots from 16-23 feet is a paltry 38%, while even attempts from 3-9 feet fall short of close to adequacy at 40%.  Meanwhile, the average team hits 64.6% of its shots at the rim and three-pointers yield an effective field goal percentage – a measure that takes that extra point into account when factoring efficiency – of 53.8%.

Attempts at the rim and from three-point range.  Shoot them.  Limit them.  Success.

The San Antonio Spurs, unsurprisingly, do both on both ends of the floor.  They ranked 10th in the league in shots from the restricted area and third in hyper-efficient corner three-point attempts during the regular season.  Conversely, they forced opponents into the second-most shots from mid-range, the fifth-most from inside the paint (non-restricted) and were among the top-nine teams in limiting three-point shots from both the corner and above-the-break.

Taking that into consideration, it hardly shocks that San Antonio was one of three teams – along with Miami and Oklahoma City, of course – to rank in the NBA’s top-seven of offensive and defensive rating.  Basically, they’re near elite at both ends of the floor.  Ho-hum.  This is Spurs basketball, the sports paragon of consistent dominance.

None of this bodes well for the Warriors offensively.  Golden State subsists on proficient shooting from beyond the arc more than ever these days without David Lee, and it’s the main reason optimists saw that potential upset in the first round against Denver coming – the Nuggets were arguably the league’s worst team at defending the three-point line in the regular season.

San Antonio is one of its best and most disciplined.  Good looks from long-range simply won’t come easy or often for Steph Curry and Klay Thompson against the Spurs brand of defense.  Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green could potentially feast when Gregg Popovich is playing two traditional big men, however, though that’s a strategy Golden State is best served not relying on.

The Warriors safest bet to score against San Antonio, then, might be a regularly counter-intuitive one: those inefficient mid-range jumpers.

Golden State took the sixth-most shots from that area during the regular season, a logical number considering the team’s wealth of good jump-shooters and general lack of penetration.  Such a reliance on those shots should spell doom for an offense normally – the five teams ahead of them all ranked 20th or below in efficiency – but the Warriors have the pieces necessary to beat that measured assertion.  They shot 41% from mid-range in the regular season, a mark that ranks them less than a point behind, ironically, second-place San Antonio.

Golden State is an elite jump-shooting team.  The NBA world knows that, but it’s mostly based off familiar images of Curry and Thompson effortlessly flicking three after three.  The Warriors have a stable of good shooters behind them on all levels, though, in players like Jarrett Jack, Carl Landry, Barnes and even the suddenly competent Green.

San Antonio’s ability to coax the opponent into long two-point jumpers is a strength, but Golden State has the personnel necessary to turn it into a weakness.  It’s a less than ideal strategy and one best not applied, but in the playoffs, when the competition is toughest, such a game within the games looms especially large.  And when you’re the underdog, that often means having to play and try to take advantage of one you’d rather avoid to pull off the upset.

*Statistical support for this piece provided by NBA.com and hoopdata.com.

Follow Jack Winter on Twitter.

By: Scott Horlbeck

1.  Before

Wait, David Lee is active tonight? I thought he couldn’t walk??? What does Mark Jackson have up his sleeve – hopefully not PED’s.

I know some people didn’t love David Lee’s 90 second cameo, but I got it. It had nothing to do with x’s and o’s. It was a human thing. It was an empathy thing. It was, “This could be the last time our All-Star, fan favorite and team leader gets the chance to play a playoff game at Oracle, so if the doctors say he can hold up for 90 seconds, then he’s going in there.”  At the very least, it was going to make the fans go nuts, bring the team closer together, and provide Lee with a memory he would never forgot. I loved it.

2. During: Courtsides? I thought Hammer was broke?

3. After: Draymond is a GAMER. I know he sometimes gets a little too excited and takes a bad shot or hacks somebody on defense, but think about the series he just had. Think about the confidence Jackson has in him. Think about the BIG minutes he played. Think about the fact the he’s a second round pick playing in the first playoff series of his life.

Regular season: 2.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 32-21-81%

Playoffs: 7.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 59-50-75%

GAMER ALERT!!!!!!

4. During: Third (Steph’s) Quarter

As quick as Lawson is, he knows he can’t give Steph an inch. But playing someone that tight is difficult, and the second you’re leaning one way or the other, you’re dead. And Steph understands that better than anyone.

Why are you leaving him?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?

Oh and guess who made that pass…

5. During: I’m cutting him some slack because Iguodala was in his pocket all series, and he did hit some big shots in Denver in games 1 and 2, but overall, I just feel like Klay needs to be more aggressive offensively. At this point, everyone knows how good of a shooter he is. And when he does puts the ball on the floor, everyone knows it’s two dribbles — jump shot. But here’s the problem, No one fears the drive from the Klay. No one fears a pump fake and easy trip to the line. He’s become a defenses dream – predictable. So what’s the fix? Before more aggressive!!! When a guy is closing out hard, put your head down and go to the rim. Pump fake and jump into him. Drive and kick. Start making plays outside of just catch-and-shoot opportunities. Because until then, defenses are going to continue to play Klay the same way Denver did – in his pocket.

6.  After: AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bogut was a monster all series, but game 6 was his coming out party. He was a animal on the glass and caught and finished just about everything Curry and Jack dropped off for him. But it’s wasn’t his 14 and 21 that impressed me most – nope – it was his defense at the rim. Not only did Bogut reject 4 shots, but he most have altered another 10. Look at the number of X’s inside the paint in Denver’s shot chart. That’s enough to get Kirk Goldsberry’s nether regions excited. I know Bogut has been battling injuries all year, and maybe didn’t have the impact we had all hoped for or expected, but in game 6 he was special.

7. After: The Play of the Game (or what I felt was the play of the game)

Guess who…

Did the Warriors win an “upset” over perception, or did they actually beat a better team? After watching the series and reflecting upon it, I’d conclude that Golden State was only a nominal underdog, not an actual one. The Warriors sans David Lee should beat the Gallo-less Nuggets. Were this series played out again, I’d pick the Warriors to take it 60%-70% of the time.

Forgive me for dwelling on the past as we’re supposed to immediately start previewing Spurs-Dubs. It’s just that Golden State’s first round victory continues to interest me, continues to place me in the homerish position of defending GSW’s status as rightful winner. They beat six consecutive Vegas spreads, with little market adjustment to how the series was unfolding. As Denver’s season lay in ruins, some observers blamed randomness for the destruction. I’ve had this argument on Twitter with a few people, and with Matt Moore of CBS, with whom I respectfully disagreed on the fortune factor. Golden State did not beat Denver on account of a shooting hot streak; Denver bequeathed a hot streak unto Golden State with typically absent perimeter defense.

The Denver Nuggets had a bad three-point defense all season (gave up the second most threes per game, right behind Charlotte) and the Warriors shoot the best percentage from downtown. Further helping Golden State’s cause, the Nuggets shoot poorly, bailing out GSW’s shaky, Denver-esque three-point defense. So Denver played to GSW’s strength and couldn’t take advantage of GSW’s weakness. Perhaps the Nuggets aren’t a worse team than the Warriors in terms of how they’d do against other playoff competition, but against Golden State? Yep, they’re fighting uphill.

In the first 4 games of the series, Curry “got loose” (George Karl’s term) for many an open three. That much is well documented, and it was expected by anyone who’d watched both teams closely  this season. Denver’s point guards are complete liabilities against three-point shooters. Ty Lawson’s too short to contest shots, and Andre Miller either can’t move or doesn’t bother.

What people couldn’t foresee was how Denver also ceded threes to the rookie duo of Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green. That Barnes shot well isn’t much of a shock. Green, on the other hand, surprised some people. While I’ll admit that Green’s 6-of-12 was anomalous given his .209 three-point shooting this year, he was also about as wide open as you’d expect a .209 three-point shooter to be. That’s fine and well, the Nuggets aren’t obligated to cover a shooter with his track record. The problem was that they guarded Harrison Barnes as though he was Draymond Green.

Harrison Barnes can actually hit an open three, and the Nuggets gave him a steady diet of them. Below, I’ve taken a snap shot of every three-pointer Barnes made this series, all 13 of them. The only time he faces anything close to a closeout is when the diminutive Ty Lawson takes a flail.

As Denver scattered to cover Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, players like Barnes and Draymond Green got just this open. With David Lee out, GSW spread the floor 4-out, ratcheting up their total three-point attempts to 24.5 per game from their regular season average of 19.9, while still hitting 40% of the tries. The stretched (and often trapping) Denver D also opened up easy opportunities for dump-offs to Andrew Bogut, who shot 63.2% in the series.

I understand how people can point to the final shooting results as inherently flukey. Barnes shot 40.6% from three! Green shot 50%! What luck! But merely citing the number is to act as though the defense played is meaningless–as though you’re allowed to barely try and claim “variance” when the shots fall. On nearly all their made threes, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green were facing what might as well have been a high school defense. In Green’s case, he was open for a reason. You can defend the lack of defending, while also pointing out that Denver gave Draymond every opportunity to find the stroke that eluded him this season. In Barnes’ case, Denver was just spotting points to Golden State. Harrison faced a decent close-out on 4 of his 32 three-point attempts. The rest were essentially nationally televised shooting practice. Even a rookie will put up numbers if you neglect to guard him at all.

Even an average regular season team will beat a great one if the conditions are right. The Nuggets were a prototypical regular season performer, between the altitude advantage, depth, and pace that caught unprepared teams off-guard. In the playoffs, teams better acclimate to the altitude, and depth matters less. Subjectively, Denver was hurt by a lack of offensive structure (Karl’s style is more improvisational) and yes, the lack of a star who forces consistent strategic concessions over a series.

On a certain level, it is shocking to watch a 57-win team lose to a 47-win team. Chalking it all up to luck is to learn the wrong lesson, though. The lesson is that the regular season doesn’t tell us all we need to know about the postseason. It can greatly inform our expectations–for instance, I expect San Antonio to easily handle Golden State based on what both teams have done this year. The information is useful, but a total reliance on aggregate record and point differential is simplistic. Teams aren’t the same over the course of a season. They go through lulls, players get injured, new strategies are tinkered with. Stars play less, scrubs play more. There are a myriad of factors that explain why it’s foolish to base all expectations on record and point differential. So, coming off a series in which the “underdog” had the best player and best big man, we should probably question our process just a bit.

Follow @SherwoodStrauss

Our biggest show of the year comes at the most important time of the season for our Golden State Warriors. Fresh off their incredible series victory at Oracle in Game 6, we talk everything Warriors with a multitude of guests. We hope you enjoy.

In our first segment we welcome Ethan Sherwood Strauss of WarriorsWorld and ESPN.com. We talk David Lee’s surprising comeback, the Warriors 4-out lineup and how effective it was against the Denver defense, Joe Lacob’s epic turnaround and more.

We next welcome ESPN.com’s NBA writer Chris Palmer to talk Stephen Curry’s swagger, Mark Jackson’s coaching job, Andrew Bogut’s importance these playoffs and much more.

Next up is Bay Area News Group’s Marcus Thompson talking the future of Jarrett Jack coming back, whether David Lee will play minutes next series and the scene at Oracle Arena.

Finally, we welcome Ed Maisonet of SLAM Magazine to the podcast as he talks his affinity for Stephen Curry and where he ranks in the NBA’s pantheon of players, why he was rooting for the Nuggets on press row and how Oracle Arena compares to Chesapeake Energy Arena.

As always, you can listen to the podcast, subscribe and rate us on iTunes here.

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Legacies are made and destroyed in the playoffs. Oddly enough, we tend to collectively rewrite them, falling prey to recency bias. Peyton Manning couldn’t win the big one until he won the big one but now he can’t win the big one again.

Go figure.

The one guy that has consistently seen his credentials questioned is Carmelo Anthony.

In the interest of full disclosure, it’s doubtful that anyone has wavered more on his talents and exploits than yours truly. Once upon a time, the word overrated was used in conjunction with Melo.

And then at the start of the 2012-13 campaign, I wrote a piece titled Knicks Fans Getting the Carmelo Anthony They’ve Always Deserved.

So what gives? The answer gives a fairly accurate depiction of Anthony’s career arc.

Superstars are expected to carry their teams during playoff runs and give them a chance against elite competition. The term invokes the names of Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Derrick Rose to name a few.

Anthony is often placed in the conversation, although one could argue that he consistently inserts himself into the discussion and then sees himself out of it.

The regular season is his baby. During the 82-game grind, Melo performs admirably under the bright lights and treats fans to exceptional performances. Whether this was as a member of the Denver Nuggets or as a current employee of the New York Knicks, Melo has long been a stud.

However, once the postseason rolls around, his play typically fizzles out fairly quickly. His teams rarely last long in the playoffs.

In eight of his nine NBA seasons, Anthony’s teams have been eliminated in the first round. Granted, not all of the blame can be shifted on his shoulders. The man had teammates for crying out loud.

But the one thing that all can point in his direction is obvious: his own performance.

Throughout the entirety of his career, save for a few exceptions here and there, he’s been underwhelming in the playoffs. Have a quick look at the comparison between his regular season numbers and postseason:

His scoring takes a slight increase in the playoffs, and the same applies to his rebounding figures, but those actually come as a result of the increased minutes played in the postseason.

It’s a bit more prudent in this instance to verify his numbers in both scenarios projected over 36 minutes per game to get a much more accurate look at his production:

His playoff performance when compared head-to-head with the regular season shows a decline in points, assists and marksmanship from the field.

Against tougher postseason competition, Melo has had issues converting from the field and it’s reduced his overall effectiveness as a player.

Fair or not, his inability to rise to the occasion for the most part during the playoffs coupled with his teams’ early exits lead to many vacillating on the merits of his inclusion into the group of elite players in league.

Games 4 and 5 of the 2013 opening round of the playoffs against the Boston Celtics have reminded fans of this dynamic. With an opportunity to close out a proud Celtics team, the Anthony of old has reemerged.

He’s been settling for a multitude of mid-range jumpers and clanking them with frequent regularity. He got himself to the free throw line and still scored 29 points on average in both contests, but only converted 18-of-59 field goal attempts (30.5 percent).

Fast-forward to the present, and all of this can be forgotten.

In June 2012, LeBron James faced a similar dilemma. Although his team was facing a 3-2 series deficit, the reigning league MVP had to go to Boston for a Game 6 that may have defined his career in defeat. Instead, he submitted arguably the greatest playoff performance of his career in victory and used the win to propel the Miami Heat to a title.

The circumstances aren’t as dire for Anthony given that the New York Knicks actually have 3-2 lead in their series against the Boston Celtics. Nonetheless, Game 6 in Boston could be construed as a legacy-defining game.

It’s not quite do or die, but Melo’s best will certainly be expected. Anything less could result in a Game 7 at Madison Square Garden with the world awaiting for an unprecedented NBA playoff collapse.

Anthony can’t erase his past playoff failures with a victory tonight, but it will certainly help soften up the blow when history looks back on his career. The Knicks and their fans need their leading scorer to be at the top of his game going forward.

Otherwise, he might be tagged with some of the most unflattering labels in sports and those tend to stick. It’s the difference between making the Hall of Fame and talking about possibly joining the fraternity.

Tonight won’t necessarily alter Anthony’s legacy one way or another, but it’s certainly part of the story. And so far, his story just isn’t all that good.

Questions or comments? Feel free to leave them in the comments section or you can contact me by email at [email protected].

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The Golden State Warriors are in the midst of somewhat of a franchise renaissance. They made the postseason for the first time in six seasons and even advanced past the opening round of the 2013 playoffs. But make no mistake; none of this happens without Andrew Bogut.

This might sound ridiculous now, but many mocked his acquisition when it occurred. There was a sentiment floating amongst fans that essentially trading Monta Ellis for Bogut would come back to bite the Dubs.

Many argued that Ellis was the heart and soul of the team. He was the Warriors’ leading scorer and the team should consequently be built around his talents despite his shortcomings as a player.

Bogut was viewed as somewhat of a health risk. His contributions to the franchise would be minimal at best, or so the line of thinking went.

The front office knew better though.

Even though Bogut struggled during stretches of the 2012-13 campaign with injuries that limited his minutes and games played, the Warriors knew their future hinged on the Aussie’s defensive talents.

He showed flashes during the regular season, but consistency was lacking. Golden State never truly knew what they would get from the former Buck.

And yet, in his first full season in the Bay, Bogut has already taken the Dubs farther than Ellis ever has in his time as the team’s primary scorer.

An argument could be made that Jarrett Jack and Bogut wrestled for the title of second best player on the team in the first round series against the Denver Nuggets.

The Warriors’ starting center was simply disruptive throughout the six playoff games against George Karl’s group. He allowed the Dubs to overcome whatever tactic and in some cases the effort exhibited by the opponent.

When athletes came crashing down the paint for scores, Bogut thwarted them at the rim and rebounded the misses. His activity, length and strength helped him anchor the paint and snatch boards out of the air against one of the top rebounding teams in the league.

He played with an edge and toughness that seemed to rub Denver players the wrong way at times. He took exception to the perceived rough play directed at Stephen Curry and delivered his form of vigilante justice by taking out Kenneth Faried in Game 5.

It may have been uncalled for, but the message was clear: Curry was off limits.

On the other side of the ball, whenever Karl ordered a trap in the pick-and-roll, Bogut eventually figured out how to get himself open and in a lane where his teammates could directly find him for an attempt at the rim.

Repeatedly, Bogut kept flashing into the paint and finishing right at the basket with no defenders in sight. His hard screens not only sprung Golden State’s top shooter loose on a few occasions, but it also allowed him to stroll down into the painted area for easy scores.

All of his talents and intellect culminated into a Game 6 masterpiece that completely frustrated the Nuggets: 14 points, 21 rebounds, four blocks and three assists.

Denver never really completely figured out how to exploit Bogut. They forced him into defending Ty Lawson in the pick-and-roll, but the big man simply retreated to the paint and allowed the former Tar Heel to put up mid-range jumpers.

Lawson converted 17-of-38 mid-range jumpers (44.7 percent) in the series per NBA.com’s advanced stat tool. This suited Mark Jackson quite well.

Lawson had more mid-range jumpers attempted than shots directly at the rim — 35 such tries — in the series, which he converted 57.1 percent of the time.

Bogut deterred drives and made life a living hell for the Nuggets’ frontcourt in the playoffs.

Going forward, his skills will be needed against a tough San Antonio Spurs squad. He will be asked to defend the incomparable Tim Duncan and also help out on Tony Parke’s drives in the same manner he did against Lawson.

His contributions will be incredibly important for a Warriors’ team looking for another upset. But the beauty of it all is that the tandem of Curry and Bogut certainly gives them a chance.

And that’s all Warriors fans have been asking for in these past years.

Questions or comments? Feel free to leave them in the comments section or you can contact me by email at [email protected].

Follow @ShyneIV

The praise is for Steph Curry, the respect for Mark Jackson.  The hope for Andrew Bogut, expectations for Harrison Barnes and the reputation is back for Oracle.

Winning a playoff series can drastically altar the direction of an entire organization and individuals career.  You haven’t proven anything in the NBA until you’ve enjoyed some measure of postseason success, so once you do your place in the league has been remarkably strengthened.

It means different things for different people, but like with any accomplishment the central characters garner the most attention.  Ater last night, Curry’s a star, Jackson is established, Bogut’s a rehabilitated cog and Barnes is an ascending commodity.  Oracle is, well, Playoff Oracle – it never went away, just took a break.

Golden State’s first round achievement may be most directly related to influence gleaned from the above, but that hardly means they did it alone.  Carl Landry, Klay Thompson and even Festus Ezeli certainly had their moments against Denver, too, and were invaluable in their own unique ways.  But the player who gained the most from the past two weeks is Draymond Green.

He made a career.

It’s no secret Green struggled throughout the regular season.  His defensive versatility was a surprise and Jackson’s affinity for his rookie’s playing style was obvious, but that didn’t necessarily manifest itself into obvious positive impact; 33% overall shooting and a proclivity for 3-point attempts made Green’s regular season value negligible at best on the surface.  We’ve profiled Green’s worth to Golden State before, remarking on what his position-less nature does for a Warriors roster lacking players of such utility.  So it’s not necessarily a surprise he proved valuable against a team like the Nuggets that creates so much defensive havoc, especially once David Lee was lost to injury.

What nobody counted on, obviously, was Green’s sizable impact on the other end of the floor.  He averaged 7.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in 16.8 minutes in the first round, major improvements on his season-long marks 2.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in just three fewer minutes.  So the production was definitely there, which is surprising, but not half as much as the efficiency with which he compiled it.

Green shot 59.3% from the field against the Nuggets and connected on six of his 12 attempts from beyond the arc.  His per 36 minute numbers of 16 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals do his play even better justice.  Simply, Green suddenly went from barely playable defensive wildcard in the regular season to essential all-around bench performer in the span of several days.  This type of playoff turnaround is something rarely enjoyed at all, let alone by a rookie second-rounder that showed little hope in terms of offensive effectiveness the entire regular season.

The effect of Green’s ambush on this series, then, can’t be overstated; the Nuggets game-planned to leave him alone offensively, and once he made them consistently pay everything had to change.  Who knows how many times the presence of an efficient Green factored into Denver defensive breakdowns and missed rotations? Combined with the shot-making, rebounding, intensity and awesome extra-passes, it’s easily arguable Green was Golden State’s most impactful reserve piece in the first round.  For a player most assumed would be riding the playoff pine and likely would have been if not for Lee’s absence, such a meteoric rise deserves our attention and adulation.

And while Green won’t receive his due praise publicly, he certainly will behind closed-doors.  Jackson, the Warriors coaching staff and his teammates know of Green’s playoff worth thus far, and the rest of the league knows he’s capable of such an impact now, too; that means a long, lucrative career is suddenly and assuredly in his future.

Green didn’t just help his team in the first round, he helped himself immeasurably in the process, too.  It’s not stardom or even a starting role, but based on his recent turnaround not even the former should be out of the question.

Follow Jack Winter on Twitter.

“We don’t like each other, we shouldn’t like each other, there’s pain and anguish to every win and loss. Competitive spirit.” – George Karl

This is fun, isn’t it?

On the eve of Game 6 of the first round of these Western Conference playoffs, the Warriors and Nuggets have grown a keen disdain for one another. Before these last five games, there was no such hatred or questioning between the two teams. They were similar Western Conference foes with the ultimate goal of winning an NBA championship, whether practical or not.

So what happened?

Playoff basketball happened. The heat-of-the-battle cliché has proven to be true; the playoff atmosphere presented to these two franchises has brought about a side from each we’ve never seen before. It’s fun more than anything. The reactions from national media, local pundits and social media to the shenanigans following Game 5 have been a sight to behold.

Mark Jackson, George Karl, Stephen Curry, Kenneth Faried and even JaVale McGee have made headlines the past two days for their comments following a chippy Game 5. Faried made what could be described as a dirty play — depending on who you ask — as he stuck out his right hip/knee/foot/leg while Curry was strolling through the painted area. Note: the move was directed towards Curry’s right side, which includes his precious surgically repaired right ankle.

The discussion about this play has been exhausting. Whether dirty or not, the overlying theme of this series has transformed into detestation. These teams simply don’t like each other at this point. Sure, they might claim to be friends outside the field of play, but the actions of both teams — both on and off the court — have escalated the teams to clear “rival” status.

Whether it be the Clippers, Lakers, Pacers or Nuggets, the Warriors have made their physical play become a known entity this season. Not since the 2007 “We Believe” team have we seen such competitiveness on a game-by-game basis — only to cultivate in an increased presence come the postseason. It’s good, hard playoff basketball, and with the exception of Faried’s hip check in Game 5 it’s all been fair game.

The Warriors got into it with both their Los Angeles rivals this season. The Clippers, well renowned for their floptastic techniques, got under the Warriors skin. The Lakers, being the most hated team by Warriors fans, irked everyone with their OT comeback on December 22. These two teams are more natural rivals: Los Angeles — from all Bay Area franchises — is all that is wrong with the world. It’s safe to say Bay Area pundits and fans don’t mind seeing the Lakers get swept by the Spurs, or the Clippers on the verge of a first round exit.

The new unnatural rivals: Pacers and Nuggets. Indiana is often regarded as a hard-nosed, blue collar, physical team. Golden State, conversely, has had a long-standing reputation — whether warranted or not — of being soft. While this reputation is no longer valid, the events that took place during the Warriors-Pacers game in February have a lot to do with their new standing in NBA circles. The scuffle began mid-4Q when David Lee pushed Roy Hibbert on a rebound attempt and ended with all ten players on the floor in the first row.

This brawl led to Hibbert and Lee no longer becoming besties and quite possibly the funniest quote from someone not named J.R. Smith this season:

“Seriously, I didn’t even feel him,” Hibbert said of Curry. “I saw some light-skinned guy. I don’t know if it was Klay Thompson or Steph Curry, I just knew there was a light-skinned guy by me.”

Fun times.

This leads me to the Nuggets, the Warriors freshest and newest antagonists. This won’t reach Los Angeles levels of antipathy, but fans don’t forget the pleasantries. Just like Roy Hibbert will be booed next time he steps foot into Oracle for pushing Stephen Curry to the ground back in February, the Nuggets will be remembered as the team who attempted to injure Curry with a questionable move. This isn’t the beliefs of everyone, understood, but the majority of Warriors fans.

We can agree the playoffs are awesome, and with the Warriors participating this season the attentiveness towards every minute detail has risen incredibly. Nuggets players have hit Warriors players and vise versa, players and coaches have taken jabs at each other through the media and both teams have claimed each other to be dirty. Being the playoffs — and the first series for the Warriors in six years — this won’t be taken lightly.

For all the buffoonery that George Karl has said this series, he was sure right about one thing: we don’t like them.