The Week that Was:
After All-Star Weekend, the Warriors got some much-needed time off. Their first game back was against the Spurs and it may be Golden State’s most important single win of the season. They beat San Antonio for the first time since their 2013 playoff series in dominating fashion, holding a twenty-one point lead after three quarters.
From there, the Warriors had a completely understandable letdown game in Indiana without Stephen Curry. They could have won behind a strong Klay Thompson performance but lost late.
The Soapbox: The Priority
This is new territory for the Warriors and their fans. They have not been a top-four seed since 1992 and have not won their division in thirty-nine years.
Despite last night’s loss, Golden State still has a three game lead on the rest of the conference despite only having ten losses total and being on pace for 15.5 losses, one and a half more than the current second seed already has. Unless they fall apart, the Warriors will have a very good seed.
That reality changes the priority for the team from maximizing their playoff spot to making sure they have the healthiest possible roster when the postseason starts. While I still think that avoiding San Antonio and ideally Oklahoma City would be a nice perk, the more pertinent fact has to be that an incomplete Golden State team has a much lower chance against anyone than a healthy Warriors team does against those powerhouses. Despite some strong games without Andrew Bogut, a seven game series against any team in this deep conference will expose any flaws the team has and the lack of Center depth continues to be a problem in those circumstances. I do not think I need to detail Stephen Curry’s importance- the loss to Indiana did that well enough for the people who were not already on board.
Fortunately, it appears that Steve Kerr understands the importance of a healthy roster and he has already done a much better job limiting the workload of the starters even if the team made some of those decisions easier by creating so much garbage time.
With only twenty-nine games left in the regular season, the Warriors have played well enough to shift their focus to mid-April. That is quite the accomplishment.
The Week to Come:
An argument could be made for this being the hardest week of the regular season for Golden State. They have five road games in seven days including three in four days against teams in the top five of the Eastern Conference. The Dubs begin the series in the nation’s capitol against a sputtering Wizards team then go to Cleveland to face a powerhouse Cavs team and straight to Toronto on a back-to-back.
After that trio of tough games, Golden State ends the week and road trip with more winnable games in Boston (against noted thorn in their side Isaiah Thomas) and Brooklyn and former Warrior Jarrett Jack.