Are the Golden State Warriors still the team to beat in the NBA?

The Golden State Warriors are battling in the NBA Playoffs with hopes on winning their third straight NBA title. There is only one question though, are they still the team to beat?

The NBA playoffs have given us some exciting action through the first round and now into the second, but one question still looms in the basketball world. Are the Golden State Warriors still the favorites to win the NBA championship?

This season for the Warriors has been much different than past seasons during this dynasty run since 2014. For one, the Golden State Warriors were not the best team in the league this year and they actually were not even the second-best team as they finished third in the league behind the Toronto Raptors and the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Warriors were also stripped of first place for a while during the season and at one point it looked like they may not have it in them to win the Western Conference. It was the Denver Nuggets who were giving the Warriors a run for their money this year and they only finished three games back of the Warriors at the end of the regular season.

Going into the playoffs, the Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers were set to face off in the first round. It what was ultimately supposed to be an easy round for the Warriors as it was a 1 vs 8 seed matchup. However, the first round proved a little more difficult than I’m sure the Warriors wanted as the Clippers did a good job in doing little things to get under the Warriors skin.

Many people saw the Warriors sweeping that series as they have done to many teams before during the playoffs. I for one did not even expect the Clippers to be in the playoffs, let alone be a team that took the Warriors all the way to Game 6.

Not only did the Clippers take them to Game 6, but nut they were also able to steal two games on the road during the course of the series. Oracle Arena has been a place that the Warriors love to play at because of the home crowd and their ability to make it the loudest arena in the league. The Clippers did a good job of taking the crowd away from them and were able to come out with two huge wins on the road.

For the Warriors, they are now in the middle of a battle with the Houston Rockets in the second round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs. The Rockets and Warriors have a long history between each other as they have met numerous times in the playoffs and it always seems to be the Warriors coming out on top.

In fact, the Warriors have 14 wins in the playoffs against the Rockets while Houston has only been able to put together five wins all-time against Golden State in the playoffs. The most recent meeting between these two teams was in the 2018 Western Conference Finals when the series took all seven games to determine a winner.

Of course, it was the Warriors coming out on top and moving on to the NBA Finals where they were to win their second straight championship. In the two meetings before last year, the Warriors eliminated the Rockets in the 2016 Western Conference first round by a series win of 4-1. In 2015 the Warriors eliminated the Rockets once again but this time in the Western Conference Finals by a series win of 4-1 as well.

There is no denying that the Warriors have had major success against the Rockets in the playoffs. And after the first two games of this series, we have seen that even when the Warriors are not on top of their game, they are still able to have just enough to come out on top and get the win.

I see the Warriors beating the Rockets once again this series but I do believe the Rockets will pick up one win at home and bring the series back to Oakland for a Game 5.

If the Warriors make it out of this series, they will likely need to face the Denver Nuggets who as we have said, gave the Warriors a run for their money during the regular season. The Nuggets were a surprise team this season as they were right up there with what was supposed to be the best team in the West by far.

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The all-time record for the Nuggets against the Warriors is a solid 95-81 record. However, the Warriors have won the last three meetings, the closest one being on April 2nd of this year when the Warriors won 116-102. Golden State did drop one to the Nuggets this season by a score of 98-100 on October 21st of last year. The Nuggets are currently tied with the Blazers at one game apiece in their respective series.

If the Warriors are able to make it to the NBA Finals, they will most likely have to face the best team in the league in the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks were 33-8 at home this series and 27-14 on the road. In the two games that these teams played against each other, each team won one game but it was the Bucks who came away with the more decisive victory.

That win came by a score of 134-111 while the Warriors win came by a score of 105-95. No matter which way you look at it, if the Warriors and Bucks face off in the NBA Finals, that series should be one for the ages. The team stats are pretty much identical all across the board for the two squads.

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If the Warriors are able to beat the Rockets in 5 or 6 games, they will have an even better chance of coming out on top in the next series as it will give some of the Warriors players that are banged up a chance to rest and get a little more healthy.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Warriors have the best chance of making it to the finals and being able to win their third straight championship. They have the deadliest starting five in the game and their bench is incomparable.

While this is likely the weakest Warriors team of the ones that have won championships, they are still better than most or all of the competition that is left. With Lebron James finally out of the Eastern Conference, the Warriors really only have one team that they need to be worried about and that is the Bucks.

Other than that, the Warriors are the best team in both conferences. Only time will tell as to how this postseason will play out, but if you are a Golden State Warriors fan, I would once again be pretty excited to see how things unfold.