About a month ago, the Golden State Warriors were pretty much left for dead, as a hot 12-3 start had given way to a long stretch of ugly basketball. One game under .500 and tied for 10th in a hyper-competitive Western Conference after losing to the Lakers on February 8th, it looked like the end of an era. Then the Dubs traded for disgruntled Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler and completely turned their season around.
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Golden State has won 12 of 14 games since adding Jimmy Buckets to surge up to sixth in the West, and they’re currently riding a five-game winning streak. Butler has been a model citizen since forcing his way out of South Beach, and last night he recorded the Warrior’s first triple-double of the season in a 130-120 win over the Blazers.
Butler’s arrival has also reinvigorated Steph Curry. The Team USA Olympic hero has scored 30 or more points six times since joining forces with his new buddy, including a 56-point eruption against the Magic late last month that featured a ridiculous 12 threes. Steph turns 37 in three days, but he looks as sharp as he’s ever been, which could be bad news for the rest of the West.
The Warriors aren’t assured of avoiding the play-in yet, not with the Timberwolves and Clippers hot on their heels, but their current trajectory has them projected to grab a playoff spot, a prospect that seemed to be a long shot as the team struggled earlier in the year.
Players to know
Heading into the season, the biggest storyline coming out of the Warriors camp was the departure of Klay Thompson to the Dallas Mavericks. Golden State replaced Klay’s shooting with Buddy Hield, and early on, the move looked brilliant, as Hield scored 20 or more in six of his first seven.
Hield has come back to earth, though, as he’s only managed to hit that 20-point mark four times in the 58 games since. Other players have picked up the slack, though, including Draymond Green with his usual swarming defense, and solid contributions from the young trio of Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski, and Trayce Jackson-Davis.
The Warriors rank eighth in the NBA in defensive rating, but offensively, they still have room to grow. That’s because Jonathan Kuminga, who looked ready to become Steph’s second-in-command, should return soon from the ankle injury that has kept him out for over two months.
The Warriors haven’t yet seen what Steph, Butler, and Kuminga can do together, and the hope is that Kuminga can return with enough time left in the regular season so that the trio can find their rhythm together before the playoffs.
Possible playoff matchups
A lot can change in the final month of the regular season, but if the season ended today, the Warriors would be matched up in the first round with the Lakers. That’s probably a matchup that Steve Kerr’s team would prefer to avoid, as they’re currently 0-3 on the year against L.A.
In fairness, though, the teams haven’t played since Butler arrived in the Bay or Luka Doncic came to L.A., so any future matchups could look very different. They do play each other one time before the regular season ends.
The Lakers are dealing with multiple injuries right now, which makes it unlikely that they’ll be able to hold onto the 3-seed. LeBron James is set to miss a week or two with a groin injury, and Rui Hachimura hasn’t played in March since injuring his knee against the Timberwolves. Dorian Finney-Smith and Jaxson Hayes also missed last night’s game.
The Warriors could easily match up with the Nuggets, Grizzlies, or Rockets, as well. Of those, they would probably prefer the Rockets, whom they beat on the road in Butler’s fourth game with the team and also beat in two out of three matchups prior to Butler’s arrival.
Golden State has beaten the Grizzlies twice in three tries, though the one loss was a 51-point annihilation in December that was also one of the worst games of Steph’s career. They haven’t played since Butler has arrived, though they will once on April 1st.
Somehow, the Nuggets and Warriors have only played one time this year, with two still to go. Denver won a tight one in early December, their eighth straight in the series dating back to 2022. Without an answer for Nikola Jokic (a problem almost all teams face), this is a matchup that the Warriors would like to avoid.
The Warriors may not be contenders, but are good enough to cause a serious upset
The Warriors have been a brand new team with Butler, and they’re still in the honeymoon phase. It’s too early to tell if that feeling will last all season, but for now, Golden State is a team that nobody wants to face.
Their main objective right now should be to avoid the play-in, and given their fine form, the smart money says they’ll do it.
Anything can happen in the playoffs, as the Warriors proved in 2023 when they won the title as a 3-seed. Could they match up with the Nuggets and get mowed down by the Jokic buzzsaw? Absolutely. But if Kuminga can come back fully healthy and integrate quickly with Curry and Butler, the sky really is the limit.
The Warriors have the defense, rebounding, and shooting to make a run against anybody. Steph showed in the Olympics what he can do on the biggest stage, and he, Draymond, and Steve Kerr have more championship experience put together than any other team in the league.
We’re not saying the Warriors are going to win the title, but they will be an extremely tough outing for any team on any given night.
