Pacific Division
Golden State Warriors
While some teams are “Dark Horses” to make the playoffs or win a Championship, the Golden State Warriors have been marked as a potential dark horse to miss the playoffs this season with the loss of Kevin Durant to the Brooklyn Nets and the loss of Klay Thompson for at least half of the season due to an ACL tear.
The quickness of Thompson’s recovery is probably going to be the key to whether or not the team even has a chance to make the playoffs this season as a poor standing in the Western Conference by Christmas might just force the team to shut him down entirely if there does not seem to be a path to the postseason even with his return.
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We’ll see though as I still have great faith in the powers of Stephen Curry and a likely rejuvenated Draymond Green, and the surprise addition of D’Angelo Russell who might make a much larger positive impact than initially expected if his 3-point shooting takes another tick up.
If the team can hold on until March, and if Klay is truly 100% by that point, he could return for the stretch run ala Michael Jordan in 1986 and at least help carry the team through a round or two before calling it an early summer (their first in a long time).
Prior to last season I had predicted that the Phoenix Suns would win one game against the Warriors in 2018-19, and specifically noted that it would probably happen near the end of the year when the (then entirely healthy) Warriors might look beyond the Suns as they prepped for the playoffs.
That is exactly what happened as Phoenix won a hugely surprising 115-111 game on March 10, snapping an 18-game losing streak to Golden State.
I want so bad to say that Phoenix will win two games this coming season.
However, as confident as I am in some matchups, this is one that the Warriors’ recent history alone is enough to give me hesitancy.
That said, I do not believe that Phoenix will be swept for the fourth time in five years and will win at least one, with the opportunity for two depending on when they meet and the health of each roster.