Dangerous near death, dangerous in discovery
The Warriors and Spurs played two close games including an instant classic on Friday. The teams showed how dangerous they both are at opposite ends of the development curve.
The Warriors and Spurs played two close games including an instant classic on Friday. The teams showed how dangerous they both are at opposite ends of the development curve.
Good morning. Let's basketball.
We're another week or so from the quarter-mark of the season, which comes with it a handy moment to reassess preseason projections. But things are getting clear enough.
The Western Conference, for example, has five clear high-level teams without asterisks at this point: the amazing Thunder, the Nuggets, the Timberwolves, the Rockets and the Lakers. (If any of those five are getting a benefit of the doubt, it's Minnesota, who is 0-4 against the other squads but has made two straight Western Conference Finals.) Then we have two teams who may very well belong in that group, who may very well be considered worthy challengers for the second spot in the WCF: the Warriors, who are led by some very old players, and the Spurs, who are led by some very young players.
Luckily for the sake of narrative, Golden State and San Antonio played twice last week. The Warriors won both of them, including an absolute thriller on Friday.
(The game was so good the NBA also released a 36-minute version of its highlight reel.)
There are really three pieces of lore you need to carry from Friday's game:
