The Golden State Warriors have been through hell in order to get to this point. They have had to fight through a lot of adversity to march themselves back into the NBA Finals. For starters, Kevin Durant left the team in free agency after their last Finals appearance. Along with his absence, Klay Thompson tore his Achilles and his ACL in different injuries, resulting in roughly two and a half years of missed time. In 2019, Steph Curry played in just five games before he got hand surgery and missed the rest of the year. That season, the Warriors had the worst record in the league.
This season started out in a flash though. They were quickly 17-3 in their first 20 games and saw Curry average 28.6 points in that stretch of time. Draymond Green and Klay Thompson remaining in the lineup made them look ten times scarier throughout the entire regular season as well. However, it was the role players that really put them back into greatness. For example, Gary Payton II, stepped into the lineup on occasion and turned into one of their best defensive weapons. He led the team in steals with 1.4 during the season while playing just 17 minuets a contest. He got hurt in the second round of the postseason but looked strong as ever before that injury happened. Then we have Jordan Poole, a revelation for Golden State off the bench. Poole averaged 18.5 points per game and was a Most Improved Player candidate because of it. Finally, we come to Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins seems like he has finally found his role with the team. He isn’t forcing shots, trying to take over offensively or act as a facilitator. He is just been thriving in this role of shooting when called upon and making the right play whenever the ball touches his hands.
We got to see them light up the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals in five games. They also took out a highly ranked Memphis Grizzlies team in six but made it look relatively easy. Most importantly, Golden State is undefeated at home throughout the postseason. It’s a scary place to play for the Boston Celtics, who just beat the Miami Heat in seven games to advance to the NBA Finals themselves. The Warriors may not be the dominant juggernaut that they were with Durant on the roster. Although, doubting this team will only end up hurting you in the end. Their trio of stars are as good as ever, their head coach knows exactly how to utilize them, and their role players have stepped up time and time again. I know for a fact that they are not a team I want to be playing against in any playoff series. I mean, there’s a reason that these guys have made it into six different NBA Finals series throughout the last eight years. During that span, every time the team has made the playoffs, they have made it into the finals. That doesn’t happen without excellent chemistry and talent.