Western Conference Teams Are Most Likely Going To Regret Not Burying The Warriors When They Had The Chance

Ezra Shaw. Getty Images.

These assholes again. The Golden State Warriors simply will not die. Am I still triggered given what took place in June? Yeah, yeah I am. That's never going to change. I know it's a "me" problem but seriously, what the hell is with this team. Just go away already.

One of the weirdest aspects of this season is the Warriors home/road splits. A dominant 26-7 in their own building, and a horrific 7-23 in someone else's. To put that into perspective, the Nuggets have the best home record in the NBA at 28-4 and the Rockets have the worst road record at 5-27. You could make the case that when at home, the Warriors are one of the best teams in the NBA, and away from home, they're basically the Rockets. Despite that, they should absolutely still be considered contenders, and of all contenders, I'm not sure anyone has such a drastic difference. Even the Grizzlies who stink on the road (12-18) have 5 more road wins.

Not only that, but guess who comes back this weekend

Unfortunately for the rest of the West, it appears that they have blown their opportunities to truly bury this team. Steph has missed 2 legit chunks of time, first from 12/16-1/7, and then again from 2/6-3/2. In total, that was 21 of their 63 games. One would think losing their best player for nearly 1/3rd of their season would be an issue, but the Warriors found a way to go 12-9 in those 21 games, which basically saved their season.

A big reason why? 

Klay Thompson.

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Let's be very clear about something. If not for Klay going nuts and carrying this team while Steph has been out, the Warriors season is probably over. 

In the month of February, Klay put up 25.5/4.1/2.5 on 45/45% splits. Since Steph went out on 2/6, those numbers went up to 28 a game on 47/47% splits with 6.1 3PM a night in those 9 games. Read that shit again. 

Remember a few weeks ago when the idea was it didn't matter where the Warriors were as long as they at least made the Play In? Well, now they are on the brink of homecourt. We now live in a world where barring something crazy, the Warriors are going to fall somewhere in the 4-10 range (most likely top 6 now w/ Steph back). Think of what that means for potential playoff matchups. We could have

1. A PHX/GS first round

2. A GS/DAL first round

3. A GS/MEM first round

4. A GS/DEN first round

Imagine you're the Suns, you make this all in trade for KD, and your reward is a healthy GS? What about the Nuggets? This has been one of the best seasons you've had in years. Congrats, you now get to face Steph Curry in the first round. The Grizzlies, with all the talk and all the beef between these two teams, might not even get past the first round because of them.

I think it's fair to suggest that someone who people may consider a contender is going to be bounced early by the Warriors, all because the conference couldn't put that final stake into their hearts when they had the chance. Remember, the Warriors are 21-15 against the West this season, which is basically the same as PHX (22-15) and MEM (20-16). 

While part of me is excited for what this means for the playoffs in the West, as someone who roots for a team that has hopes of making the Finals and winning the whole thing, personally I'd prefer if someone knocked these dudes out as quickly as possible, but there's a reason Klay Thompson is talking like this right now

because he's probably right.