A Rather Easy Path: The Warriors' Second Place Finish Might Work for Them

Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green


Despite missing Steph Curry for the first round. GSW fans shouldn't worry. At all

The Golden State Warriors finished the latter stretch of the 2017-2018 regular season without Steph Curry who sustained an injury late in that period in a game when he only returned from another injury. Then, the Warriors hobbled the rest of the way before finishing the regular season with a 58-24 record which made them the second-seeded team in the stacked Western Conference. That alone made many ask one question: Will the Warriors return to the NBA Finals in these circumstances?

The answer is simple Yes.

After destroying the Kawhi Leonard-less San Antonio Spurs in the first game of their best-of-7 series, the Warriors have appeared to be in a better position to defend their title. Or, you could almost say, easier position. Why?

Here's why:

If you will look at the playoff bracket, the Warriors won't have to worry about facing the Utah Jazz or the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round because that problem is something that the league-leading Houston Rockets will have to deal with. Mind you, the Jazz and the Thunder were two of the teams which gave the Warriors the biggest headaches in the regular season. And playing against a Spurs team who have probably seen the last of Kawhi Leonard, it's relatively an easy series for Golden State because even though Steph Curry is expected to miss the entire first round, the Warriors are still a complete team with Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and, Draymond Green leading the way. In fact, the Spurs even struggled to defend Klay Thompson in Game 1 of their 113-92 defeat as Thompson scored 27 points on 11 for 13 field goal shooting including 5 for 6 from deep. SPLASH!


Conclusion

Easy path or not, the Warriors are still a solid team, to begin with. They got a bunch of players who can score from almost everywhere. They also have playoff veterans who can provide the young guns the leadership and the guidance that they need. With or without Steph Curry, the Warriors are still capable of wreaking havoc through the playoffs like they did last year. 

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