The Warriors entered the 2016/17 season as significant favorites to come out of the Western Conference and win the NBA Finals, and little has changed during the first couple months of the season. Golden State isn’t quite on a 73-win pace again this season, but the team is 23-4 and its offense is producing at a historic pace.
Although the Warriors haven’t looked invincible, they also haven’t had to endure many growing pains as they’ve incorporated prized offseason signee Kevin Durant into their rotation. It will be an extremely tall order for any Western Conference team to beat Golden State four times in a seven-game playoff series, but a handful of teams in the conference have looked good so far.
The Spurs have the West’s second-best record, at 21-5, though advanced statistics suggest that pace is probably unsustainable, as Mika Honkasalo of HoopsHype writes. The Clippers got off to a hot start and briefly looked like they belonged in the discussion with the Warriors, but a cool stretch starting in late November brought them back down to earth, and they’ve struggled against Golden State in recent years. L.A. has lost its last seven games to the Warriors, and was blown out in the only meeting between the two teams so far this season.
While San Antonio and Los Angeles were expected to be the Warriors’ top challengers coming into the season, another trio of teams has helped form a strong second tier in the conference. The Rockets, led by MVP candidates James Harden and a record-setting barrage of three-pointers, have won nine games in a row and are tied with the Clips at 20-7. The Grizzlies, who surged without their top player (Mike Conley), are right behind them, and the Jazz, who have battled injuries all year, look like they could be a dangerous club if and when they finally get healthy.
What do you think? Which of these teams should the Warriors be most worried about facing in the Western Conference portion of the postseason? Is there another team in the conference that could create problems for Golden State? Weigh in below with your vote!
App users, click here to place your vote.
I doubt the rockets all they need is harden to get hurt for two weeks and they are back at the bottom of the playoff picture
Spurs obviously
why? just cause they are the spurs?
Jazz because they have the best defense in NBA
The bigs seem to kill the warriors with their lack of size and talent there. While draymond is an amazing player, people forget he’s 6’7. Teams with good big men like the Spurs and grizzlies killed them. Spurs have the most talent.
The Warriors are the biggest threat to the Warriors in the West, it is theirs to lose.
The Lakers, because everyone is still going to sign there, including all the good Warriors.
Don’t rule out the dark horse teams. The Warriors have flaws like any other team in the league. A 1st round match up against the Pelicans with mvp candidate AD, a motivated Terrence Jones with fresh legs (after sitting out in Houston last year) a healthy core of guards that can create and score (Frazier, Holiday, Galloway, Moore) a healthy Tyreke Evans, Pondexter)
Also, another team that seems to beat up on a lot of others to watch out for is the Denver Nuggets. The have size, depth and talent across the board. Guards that can score and defend. (Nelson, Mudiay, Barton, Harris, Murray) Big forwards that can do the same (Chandler, Gallo) and Bigs that rebound and well, play BIG (Faried, Arthur, Nurkic, Jokic)
These are 2 teams that can be problems for Golden State should they stay healthy and make a playoff push. It will be interesting.
Pels don’t have enough talent, and Denver is big and athletic, but are young. Houston is their biggest threat to me, because they play like the Warriors. They’ve already beat the Dubs in double OT, and are currently on a 10 game winning streak.