Warriors eager for chance to defend title
OAKLAND, Calif. — Nearly seven months after the Warriors’ players reported to training camp, and barely more than two days after they stormed into the NBA record book, their calendar reaches a new and welcome milepost Saturday. The real season begins. All along this meandering ride — through the monotony of October camp and the exhilaration of a 24-game, seasonopening winning streak and the feverish springtime push for 73 victories — the Warriors longed for the playoffs to arrive. That’s what truly matters. That’s when they can carve out a distinctive legacy if they repeat as NBA champions.
Only five franchises have won two or more consecutive titles in the past 30 years (the Lakers achieved the feat three times and the Chicago Bulls twice). Most recently, LeBron James led Miami to backto-back championships in 2012 and ’13; before that, Kobe Bryant steered the Lakers to the crown in 2009 and again in ’10.
Now, after the most triumphant regular season in league history, the Warriors embark on the next leg of their journey. They would seem to face smothering pressure to repeat as champs, given their unprecedented 73-9 record.
But at least one key player figures the Warriors coped with scrutiny all season — and other teams soon will enter a similar cauldron.
“We’re definitely ready to turn toward the playoffs now,” forward Draymond Green said late Wednesday night, after his team dispatched Memphis. “This has been going on for quite a while, so I’m excited to get the playoffs started. For everybody else, the pressure in a sense starts to add up to equalize ours.”
This logic might be a stretch for teams such as first-round opponent Houston, which limps into the playoffs after a disappointing 41-41 season. The Rockets could play loose and carefree against Golden State, knowing few people on Earth expect (or want) them to win.
Even so, Stephen Curry and Co. put themselves in ideal position to repeat as champs. The Warriors earned homecourt advantage throughout the postseason, no incidental factor given their 87-6 record at Oracle Arena since the fall of 2014 (39-2 in each of the past two regular seasons, plus 9-2 in last year’s playoffs).
Those crazy numbers almost make the Warriors seem vulnerable on the road, where they’re 69-23 in the same span.
If the seeds hold, the Warriors would need to beat the Rockets, Clippers and Spurs to reach the NBA Finals. That’s no easy path, clearly.
“It’s what we’ve been waiting for all season: to get back to the postseason, where every possession and every game determines the championship,” Curry said. “That’s what we live for, that’s what we play for, and that’s what we’ve been working for all season.”
Curry’s health and freshness obviously count as the most vital element to the Warriors’ pursuit of another championship. He missed only three games this season and averaged 34.2 minutes when he did play; last season, he missed two regular-season games and averaged 32.7 minutes.
Head coach Steve Kerr closely monitors his starters’ workload, fully aware of the risks come May and June. That’s why he was tempted to rest Curry, Green and Klay Thompson after the Warriors clinched the No. 1 seed in the West, and that’s why those players often rested in the fourth quarter (including Wednesday night).
Kerr played on the Bulls’ teams that won three straight NBA titles in 1996, ’97 and ’98, so he understands the challenges of repeating.
“Part of it is the cumulative effect of going deep in the playoffs for the second or third year in a row,” he said. “There’s some wear and tear. Also, there’s a benefit of having won it. In some ways, you’re playing with house money.
“There’s a level of understanding of what it takes. You can reach into your back pocket and know, We’ve done this before. We know the blueprint.”