Will The Warriors "Rest" Come Back To Hurt Them In The Playoffs?
There are numerous things about the NBA I am not fond of anymore. Of course, the SuperFriends bit bothers me. The pretty much the whole bit of flopping, ticky-tack fouls, etc. bothers me (I'm a defensive-minded fan). Seeing and hearing players whine about calls EVERY TIME OUT irks me. But the one thing that REALLY bugs me out the most is this whole "players need their rest" nonsense.
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And of course, I am eluding to the whole bit in March where the Warriors traveled to San Antonio, resting their four top non-injured stars of Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, and Klay Thompson. Of course, probably everybody that wasn't in the Warriors organization fumed about the move that coach Steve Kerr did. You probably had ABC, ESPN, the NBA, and of course, the millions of fans that hoped to see the two best teams in the West fight it out for the #1 seed. And you got what really seemed was a pre-season game that San Antonio won with ease.
So, did this really bite the Warriors for doing this? Perhaps.
Right now, the Warriors are up on San Antonio 1.5 games in the West. Of course, it can change one way or another. But without Kevin Durant, they aren't anything like the Warriors we have seen for the past three seasons, just waxing other teams into the ground. In fact, Golden State is 4-5 in their last 9, the same time as the Durant injury occurred. And the wins were all to Eastern Conference teams, and only one of those (Atlanta) is playoff bound. The issue is, even with Durant, the Warriors still are more of an offensive-minded team. Yes, I get the defensive "efficiency" is up there for the Warriors, but it isn't as close as what you see it with San Antonio, a team Golden State has not beaten all year. So really the last thing Golden State needed to do was to have their stars rest up. Go home, have the Warriors rest for the Magic (who they beat by 30). Because this game may come back to haunt Golden State.
I know Golden State had 3 games in 4 days when that bit happened. And I understand you want to keep your players fresh and healthy, but they also had a 3 day break after that game and facing off against Philadelphia back at home. Why was it so important to get the guys rest for an important game? We can make the argument that "games in March aren't as important as the games in May/June," but homecourt does mean a lot. While it isn't often you see a team lose a Game 7 at home in a playoff (no comment there), I don't think given with all the Spurs experience they will let up in a Game 7 in San Antonio.
Judging by Golden State's schedule until Durant gets back, it is not going to be easy for the Warriors. The rest of this month, the Warriors play an improved Dallas team, a road game in Oklahoma City, plus a 3 game stretch of facing the Rockets and Spurs (first two in Texas while having to go to Oklahoma City and Dallas earlier before that; by the way the Rockets and Spurs are back-to-back games so we may see a repeat of March 11). The only "breathers" may be Milwaukee, Memphis, and a home game against Sacramento. If they slip up in the least, losing 4 or 5 in this run (not probable, but possible), the #1 seed can go out the window quickly.
The thing is, while people know Golden State is still a tough team and still one of the league's best, nobody is really considering them "invincible" anymore, especially with Durant out. San Antonio has been that one team that will give the Warriors the most fits with a strong offensive balance, something that Golden State really doesn't (a great shooting team, but I wouldn't say much more than that). And to me, that is why I am really believing San Antonio, not the Warriors, will be facing the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.
So while the "in-thing" now is for NBA stars to "get their rest" after a lengthy stretch of games, sometimes teams and players need to suck it up and play through it. Because right now, given Golden State's situation with Durant, every game is still a must win unless San Antonio slips. And I don't see that happening.
-Fan in the Obstructed Seat
