Are the Warriors favorites for the championship at this point?

[No-more-rings]

I know their current series needs to play out of course, but they are seasoned veterans and firing on all cylinders, they should have no problem dispatching Dallas in 5 or 6. Not sure if Boston/Miami really have the chops either.

[Homer38]

This is close between them and The Celtics.Coin toss....

[Stalwart]

I think what we've seen so far dispels a few narratives people have started to by into myself included:

-Curry and the Warriors dominated in 15 & 16 because they were ahead of the curve stylistically

-The Warriors would not have won anymore titles without KD

-The Warriors championship window closed after 2019

-KD is better than Steph

I think its fair to say all of these narratives have been proven false in 2022.

[eminence]

Just statistically due to being up 2-0, they’re almost certainly the favorites. MIA/BOS have both looked solid though, Boston in particular.

I’d lean yes overall, but by a pretty slim margin.

[70sFan]

Yes, but not massive ones. Boston has been very impressive throughout the postseason and I'd say they faced tougher competition than Warriors.

That said, if Warriors wins game 3, they are clear favorites to win it all. Boston already lost one game and Miami are in the series still.

[No-more-rings]

I think what we've seen so far dispels a few narratives people have started to by into myself included:

-Curry and the Warriors dominated in 15 & 16 because they were ahead of the curve stylistically

-The Warriors would not have won anymore titles without KD

-The Warriors championship window closed after 2019

-KD is better than Steph

I think its fair to say all of these narratives have been proven false in 2022.

Curry being better than KD was always obvious, at least to me. I feel the only reason some went with KD was because he’s like much taller, and they bought into the falsehood that he was this great defender.

[Stalwart]

I think what we've seen so far dispels a few narratives people have started to by into myself included:

-Curry and the Warriors dominated in 15 & 16 because they were ahead of the curve stylistically

-The Warriors would not have won anymore titles without KD

-The Warriors championship window closed after 2019

-KD is better than Steph

I think its fair to say all of these narratives have been proven false in 2022.

Curry being better than KD was always obvious, at least to me. I feel the only reason some went with KD was because he’s like much taller, and they bought into the falsehood that he was this great defender.

I think the Finals MVPs and "KD vs Lebron" narratives probably did it

[jalengreen]

they've been favorites for a bit now. in terms of odds, they're actually favored over the field.

this feels a bit like 2020 to me where the lakers faced the nuggets in the CF (series they were clearly expected to win) and were set up to face either the heat or celtics in the finals (both series they would be expected to win). after arguably the top contender in each conference had been eliminated prior (clippers/bucks in 2020, suns/bucks in 2022). a situation where you knew the lakers have everything lined up for them to win

with that said the celtics are a great team and i don't think the warriors will have an easy time against them in the GSW-BOS matchup i expect to see in the finals.

[Fadeaway_J]

I think what we've seen so far dispels a few narratives people have started to by into myself included:

-Curry and the Warriors dominated in 15 & 16 because they were ahead of the curve stylistically

-The Warriors would not have won anymore titles without KD

-The Warriors championship window closed after 2019

-KD is better than Steph

I think its fair to say all of these narratives have been proven false in 2022.

Curry being better than KD was always obvious, at least to me. I feel the only reason some went with KD was because he’s like much taller, and they bought into the falsehood that he was this great defender.

I think a lot of it is that KD "looks" more like what a "best player in the world" should be, so he gets a lot more benefit of the doubt, and his flaws haven't been emphasised to the same degree as a Steph or a Jokic for example.

[The-Power]

I'd slightly favor the Celtics over the Warriors in a potential Finals series. But both of them can still lose in their current series. Against Miami I'd slightly favor the Warriors as of now. Against Dallas, the Warriors are now the healthy favorites but I still wouldn't be shocked at all if Dallas can pull off another comeback to win the series.

[tsherkin]

I think what we've seen so far dispels a few narratives people have started to by into myself included:

-Curry and the Warriors dominated in 15 & 16 because they were ahead of the curve stylistically


-The Warriors would not have won anymore titles without KD

-The Warriors championship window closed after 2019

-KD is better than Steph

I think its fair to say all of these narratives have been proven false in 2022.

I'm with you that the Warriors are reminding people that they aren't spent, but the bold hasn't been proven yet, so it'll just get in the way of the spirit of your post. They gotta win first. The part right after, where you talk about window, that's appropriate. They have a real shot at a title this year, sans KD.

[tsherkin]

I think a lot of it is that KD "looks" more like what a "best player in the world" should be, so he gets a lot more benefit of the doubt, and his flaws haven't been emphasised to the same degree as a Steph or a Jokic for example.

Yep. Iso play and higher-volume scoring, particularly rooted in that face-up dribble game, will generally make people more ready to believe in one guy being better than the other in the post-Jordan era, and certainly now in an era of heavily heliocentric team designs with dudes like Lebron and Harden and Westbrook and so forth dominating headlines (for one reason or another) over the last decade plus... and actually winning, unlike what we were seeing in the early 2000s.

[Bad Gatorade]

I'd say so, yes. Not overwhelmingly so, but I'd probably pick them above the other few teams that remain.

Whilst their core remains intact, and remains very potent, I have to say that I am very impressed by how well they have retooled around these guys. GPII and Porter were both great pickups, Bjelica is quite good for a 9th-10th guy (don't forget, he was starting just two years ago), Poole's development for a 28th pick has been an absolute revelation, Kuminga is a nice rookie, and having Iggy back as a familiar veteran presence helps too. Plus, Klay returning is also sweet, although I don't know if I'd put that down to retooling.

Obviously, Curry is an ATG, Dray is pretty great himself, Wiggins is solid and Looney's quite good in his role. But wow, seeing the Warriors be so good again is just as much of a testament towards team building as it is towards having a great star/core at the helm. The fact that the Warriors have both is what makes them so deadly in my eyes at the moment.

I think a lot of it is that KD "looks" more like what a "best player in the world" should be, so he gets a lot more benefit of the doubt, and his flaws haven't been emphasised to the same degree as a Steph or a Jokic for example.

I've actually thought this for a while - the fact that KD, on the surface, looks like he'd be the ideal basketball player probably made his perception ascend a bit faster than it should (e.g. back in 2010-2012, before he was any good as a passer and before he was a truly elite shooter) and has probably helped keep him in conversations even though it's been a few years since he's had a better season than a guy like Jokic or Giannis.

[Statlanta]

Yes, I'd take them over Boston right now due to the championship experience.

[kuclas]

Celtics should be the favorites to be honest now. A healthy bucks team likely takes out the Celtics in my opinion. But with titles these days. Some luck. Some injuries. Can make all the difference

[homecourtloss]

I think what we've seen so far dispels a few narratives people have started to by into myself included:

-Curry and the Warriors dominated in 15 & 16 because they were ahead of the curve stylistically

-The Warriors would not have won anymore titles without KD

-The Warriors championship window closed after 2019

-KD is better than Steph

I think its fair to say all of these narratives have been proven false in 2022.

1) As with most broad takes, this was an easily digestible one. 2015 and 2016 Warriors, like this year’s Warriors, also had great defenses that most casuals never understood. I still recall a bit on Inside the NBA in which Barkley was going on about the “jump shooting team, lack of elite defense” and was told how the Warriors were elite in defense and Barkley talking about “you can’t give up 120 and be called elite.” Obviously Barkley isn’t a “casual,” but he makes comments like one. I think he’s learned what defensive Rating entails since then.

The Warriors were 2nd in three-point attempt rate this year (6th in the playoffs). In 2015, they were 7th in three point attempt rate, and 2nd in 2016. Their offense has always been diverse.

2) I don’t think they beat the Cavs in 2017 without KD and if the Cavs win in 2017, maybe things don’t blow up though Kyrie is a difficult player to corral.

3) Teams approached the Warriors feeling they had to stop Curry. People may have construed certain things but Curry was always the most dangerous and impactful player though KD’s elite scoring added to that team’s (i.e., 2017 especially) invincibility.

[tsherkin]

1) As with most broad takes, this was an easily digestible one. 2015 and 2016 Warriors, like this year’s Warriors, also had great defenses that most casuals never understood. I still recall a bit on Inside the NBA in which Barkley was going on about the “jump shooting team, lack of elite defense” and was told how the Warriors were elite in defense and Barkley talking about “you can’t give up 120 and be called elite.” Obviously Barkley isn’t a “casual,” but he makes comments like one. I think he’s learned what defensive Rating entails since then.

He kissed a donkey's ass on national television after running his mouth about the Warriors, I think he may have paused to learn at least one thing. He's still very much intransigent and rooted in old ways of thinking, but he picks up some things over time, heh.

[Statlanta]

1) As with most broad takes, this was an easily digestible one. 2015 and 2016 Warriors, like this year’s Warriors, also had great defenses that most casuals never understood. I still recall a bit on Inside the NBA in which Barkley was going on about the “jump shooting team, lack of elite defense”

To be fair to Barkley on the jump shooting team part he was going off history and the general composition of teams. The Warriors lost 2016 by not making their 4th quarter jumpshots(which relates to the 4th Quarter Curry thread). Curry's last 2 field goal attempts were 3's, against a mismatch and it didn't go in. He had an opportunity to take one of those logo 3's, he regularly took in the regular season, with 37 seconds left on an island but he decided not to.

[LesGrossman]

Guys reaching quite a bit. This Warriors Team is quite different from 2017/18, i cant see any success or failure have impact on thier history. Its like sayin when the heat win this year without lebron it proves he wasnt their key guy. Absurd. Guys trying to derive a “KD <> Steph” metric for 2018 out of the 22 result even more hilarious.

The warriors are the most unpredictable team to me. Not number wise but dynamic wise, they break their opponent with their burst and flood of points, they string together 2-3 crazy 3‘s and go ahead by double digits, or catch up huge deficits. The back side is, they cant tell when they have multiple hot guys and when they dont. Klay has been very inconsistent and on bad days misses and continues to chuck away , prioritizing finding his touch over the team, which was bad. Steph as well had really bad days and his half court shots just look dumb when they dont fall. If they get hot with multiple guys tho it doesnt matter whom they play because noone can stop them.

[Homer38]

Guys reaching quite a bit. This Warriors Team is quite different from 2017/18, i cant see any success or failure have impact on thier history. Its like sayin when the heat win this year without lebron it proves he wasnt their key guy. Absurd. Guys trying to derive a “KD <> Steph” metric for 2018 out of the 22 result even more hilarious.

The warriors are the most unpredictable team to me. Not number wise but dynamic wise, they break their opponent with their burst and flood of points, they string together 2-3 crazy 3‘s and go ahead by double digits, or catch up huge deficits. The back side is, they cant tell when they have multiple hot guys and when they dont. Klay has been very inconsistent and on bad days misses and continues to chuck away , prioritizing finding his touch over the team, which was bad. Steph as well had really bad days and his half court shots just look dumb when they dont fall. If they get hot with multiple guys tho it doesnt matter whom they play because noone can stop them.

.

The warriors had the same core but just older now....This just proves once again that this core don’t need Kd to compete for title when healthy.

Miami don’t have the same core...good try