After five years at the top and a trip to the bottom, the Warriors, the NBA's former bully, return to the playoffs not as a title favorite or even a dark horse but as a complete unknown.
The Warriors went through a rocky 82-game season without ever having their full complement of players available. Klay Thompson missed the first two months, then Draymond Green was out for 31 games before Steph Curry missed the final 12. The Warriors' championship core played only 11 minutes together. None of those were with Andre Iguodala on the floor. Golden State's best four-man lineup by net rating was Curry, Thompson, Jordan Poole, and Andrew Wiggins. Those four never shared the floor with Green this season.
So, when the Warriors take the floor Saturday in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Denver Nuggets, it will be the first time their entire team is healthy, minus James Wiseman. It also means no one, not even the Warriors, knows what to expect from Golden State in a wide-open playoff race.
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But these Warriors are itching to find out what they can do on the biggest stage.
"What's interesting with this team is that we have a group of guys who are championship-tested and have felt it all," head coach Steve Kerr told reporters Thursday. "We've got some young guys who this is going to be brand new for. I really am excited about the challenge. I've told the players they need to work together. The older guys need to help the younger guys, and the younger guys need to rely on the older guys and understand that within that, there is going to be frustration. We're going to fall behind. We're going to have foul trouble. We're going to face a deficit where things aren't going well, and we are going to have to adjust on the fly. Is this team capable of playing through that? That's what the playoffs are all about."
With Curry on track to return from the bone bruise and sprained ligament in his left foot Saturday, it will be the first time he, Thompson, Green, and Iguodala have shared the court in a game since the Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals.
"We're going to find out," Curry said Thursday when asked what the championship core can do for the Warriors in the playoffs. "There's a lot of excitement about that. There's also some uncertainty about rotations in terms of what it's really going to look like. But I think we have enough in the bank in terms of experience, just the know-how of what a playoff atmosphere is like to be able to make those adjustments on the fly.
Golden State Warriors
"We've been very in-tune with each other in terms of what it's going to take in terms of communication, in terms of being a little more versatile in terms of what guys are asked to do, understanding the details it takes to win a playoff game, especially against a good team like Denver. All those things, me, Andre, Klay, and Draymond have that experience and we want to be able to bring our guys along to that level, and hopefully, we'll have a smooth transition when it comes to that. And get off to a good start."
No longer the unbeatable, immovable object, the Warriors head into the playoffs without the burden they faced during their dynastic run, when they were asked to not only win but to eviscerate their opponents.
After two seasons away from the playoff spotlight, these Warriors, and all their unknowns, are channeling their inner Al Davis as their quest begins.
"Yeah I like a challenge," Thompson said Thursday. "I still have the same expectation as I did before and that's to win a championship. It's up to us to -- it's right there for us. We know how hard it is. Yeah, it's a different time but nothing is ever the same so you just have to embrace the opportunity ahead and it's a great one.
I just tell myself let's get great shots," Thompson continued when asked about sharing the court with Curry, Poole, and Wiggins. "Who cares who leads the team in scoring? Who cares who makes the most threes? At the end of the season, and down the line, all that matters is if you won or not. Even for me, I led the playoffs in points one season, but that season ended up being the hardest because we blew a 3-1 lead, only time in NBA history in The Finals. That's a good example of stats are overrated, let's do this collectively, and let's go out there and get the win.
"Points leaders, rebounds leaders, that's cool. We just want to win."
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Uncertainty breeds opportunity. The Warriors believe that at full health they will be a team no one wants to see in the playoffs. They also know the challenges they will face trying to make a deep run with a relatively unproven group that has been jostled around by injuries.
"If this were five years ago, I'd be willing to stay with something longer because we knew what our best lineups were," Kerr said when asked how willing he'll be to change strategy if it isn't working. "We didn't have to, after half a game or one loss, say, 'oh boy, we have to make a change.' This is different.
"We've got a team that's much less clearly defined. With all the injuries we've had and absences, we're going to be playing combinations that haven't played together, at all, all year. That makes it much more kind of spur-of-the-moment decision-making. It's tricky, but it's also a lot of fun and it's great that we finally have, knock on wood, some guys coming back and coming together to put out there together.
"The difference this year compared to past years is that we have to be ready to adjust quicker," Kerr continued later. "And the tricky part is, in normal circumstances you want a big enough sample size to experiment with a lineup. That's what you do in the regular season. You give a lineup four or five games at least before you make a decision. Sometimes more. Playoffs, you don't have that luxury."
If the Warriors can come together quickly, stay healthy and break the bad habits they exhibited so often in the back half of the season, they will go from playoff question mark to legitimate title threat.
A lot of things have to go right for that to happen. For the Warriors, a team with titles embedded in its DNA, these playoffs present a new set of obstacles to overcome and questions to solve.
But with their title core finally back together, the Warriors are confident they will figure out how to make all the pieces fit to author the appropriate finish to their planned dynastic resurrection.