NBA Playoffs: Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson are Important for the Warriors

Mar 11, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors small forward Harrison Barnes (40) drives in against the New York Knicks during the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Golden State Warriors defeated the New York Knicks 92-63. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

For the Warriors and the Nuggets, the first round is all about getting over the mental hurtle and finally winning in the postseason. Denver hasn’t gotten past the first round in quite a while, and Andre Miller has never been past the first round in his career. The Warriors are a whole new team, who are just on the verge of becoming contenders and a frequent postseason team.

With that being said, can the Warriors control their own fate? According to Mark Cuban, the owner of the Mavericks as you all know, it’s completely idiotic to say that a team wanted the victory more. It is more intelligent and better-put to say that the team was in a better position to win. By Cuban’s logic, the Warriors can’t control their own fate, but there’s still a lot that they can do for themselves.

Hard work always pays off for one. So far in the series, the Warriors haven’t missed a step, and are doing considerably well to say the least. They’re actually keeping pace with one of the deepest teams in the league, and all of a sudden, they’ve stolen home-court advantage. It’s incredible because the Nuggets were on a 24-game home winning streak. The Dubs came in there, and just took it away from them. Well, on the second night, at least.

So far this series, Stephen Curry is averaging 24.5 points per game. After starting slow each game, he’s picked it up, and looked like a veteran out there, striping his normal 3s. His partner, Klay Thompson, has seemingly ditched the inconsistency and has shown up to play. Thompson has scored at least 20 points in his last five games, and is averaging 21.5 PPG this series. He is one of the ‘X’ Factors. With the way that he’s been playing, there’s no doubt that the Warriors are going to be one of the upsetting teams this first round.

The other guy that the Warriors really need to keep going his Harrison Barnes. The first game, Barnes scored just eight points and added two rebounds. It’s not usually going to be like that for Barnes if he continues to attack the basket and go at shot-blockers. Three nights ago, however, he was able to get some good minutes, and was the Warriors third leading scorer with 24 points. He was instrumental in their blowout win over Denver, whether it was a convenient three pointer, or a crowd-silencing dunk.