The Golden State Warriors are a championship caliber team for the past two seasons. And with the addition of Kevin Durant, they seemed to reach greater heights of excellence. They beat most teams with large deficits. And when they lose, it's always considered an upset no matter which team they are playing.
But now that their superstar Kevin Durant is injured with a Grade 2 MCL sprain and tibial bruise in his left knee, the Warriors are struggling. From being a championship team, they looked like an ordinary playoff team without KD. Before Durant's injury, Warriors have a 50-9 win-loss record. But since KD's injury, they lost 3 of their last 5 games to fall at 52-12.
And while the Warriors are struggling, their Western Conference rival San Antonio Spurs is surging. With a 50-14 win-loss record, they are now only two games behind the Warriors. And according to KNBR, the number one seed on the Western Conference is not a guarantee for the Warriors anymore.
Durant is averaging 25.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 59 games with the Warriors this season. He is also having career highs in blocks at 1.8 blocks per game, field goal percentage at 53.% and efficient field goal percentage at 59.4%. Truly enough, KD is the best player in Warriors' uniform right now.
The Warriors are without KD last season when they claimed the best regular season in NBA history at 73-9. But the Warriors' team this year is not the same as last year. For them to get Durant, they sacrificed a lot of their core players like Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut and Marreese Speights. They lack the bench power that they have last year.
The Dubs are almost unbeatable with KD on the roster. But now that he's injured and will be out for at least 3 weeks, the Warriors look like just an ordinary playoff team. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green needs to step up and carry the team to more victories.
They have a crucial game on Saturday night against their rival Spurs. This game could widen or shorten the gap of the Dubs' lead over the Spurs. And J.A. Adande of ESPN wondered if Kerr would rest his stars and risk the possibility of losing the top seed to the Spurs.
Warriors are in the midst of playing eight games in eight different cities over the span of 13 days. If Kerr would overplay his stars, there's a possibility that someone might be injured.
The Dubs learned last season that being healthy in the playoffs is more important than winning bunch of games in the regular season. Despite putting themselves in the NBA history books when they became the winningest team in NBA regular season history, they still lose to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. They could win the championship last season if they were healthier.
With Durant still sidelined and will probably be available starting playoffs, the Dubs look like an ordinary playoff team. Will Curry, Thompson and Green step up and get the Warriors back to its championship form. Or will they continue to struggle and lose that West top seed to the Spurs?
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