The Warriors used to be inevitable. It wasn’t a question if they would compete for the title, it was who they would play in the NBA Finals.
That, obviously, is no longer the case with the Dubs.
But Saturday night’s 123-107 win over the Boston Celtics — the Warriors’ most recent NBA Finals opponent — was a reminder that the Dubs are still a team of incredible possibility.
And when those possibilities come together, the Warriors’ best is still better than anyone else’s best.
Yes, the Warriors might be one game over .500 on the young season, but the way they smacked the Celtics — the NBA’s best team going into Saturday’s game — was a reminder that the Dubs are still the league’s team to beat.
Of course, that best doesn’t show up all the time. In fact, it seems somewhat rare at the start of this title-defense campaign. But there it was on Saturday — real and spectacular.
And so long as the Warriors have that level of play tucked away somewhere, all the worries about this team will come across as trivial.
No, the Warriors can’t blitz teams off the floor with half-hearted efforts like in the Kevin Durant era. But much like the first days of the Warriors’ dynasty, the Dubs have more viable options to beat you than any other team.
Saturday, seemingly all of those options showed up for the game.
All while the Celtics’ best player, Jayson Tatum, did not. (I’m starting to notice a trend coming off his no-show NBA Finals.)
It wasn’t some cosmic occurrence buoying the Warriors, either — the Dubs’ success being a byproduct of a yellow moon or a King tide. No, the Warriors entered the game with the obvious intention that they wanted to play at their best.
And then they did.
Focus and motivation are incredible things. It’s a shame the Warriors believe them to be finite resources.
Still, with this team’s high level of talent, on any given night, the Warriors only really need Steph Curry and Draymond Green to be special on offense and defense, respectively. After that, they need two — sometimes three, if it’s a tough opponent — players to step up.
That’s not a big ask.
What’s even more impressive for the Dubs is that nearly everyone on the roster has stepped up to help the Warriors win a game at one time or another this season.
Ideally, it’s Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins following Green and Curry’s lead, but it could be Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga, too. Perhaps Green scores some points, or Curry is a defensive ace for the night. Or maybe Kevon Looney decides to revisit the 2022 Western Conference Finals, or Donte DiVincenzo makes a big-time two-way impact.
Even a two-way player — Anthony Lamb — has gotten in on the action and been a key supporting player in a Dubs’ victory.
So what happens when all of those players — save for Wiggins, who was injured — perform at something close to the top of their games?
You run the young and impressive Celtics off the floor and you turn Boston’s NBA-best offense into the worst, holding them to a 105 offensive rating in the contest.
You remind the league that the title still runs through the Bay, even if the Pacers come by Chase Center and pick up wins these days.
It was an impressive thing to watch the Warriors click like they did Saturday night. It was even more impressive considering that they were without their top wing defender — one of the best on-ball defenders in the NBA — when going against the league’s preeminent wing duo. (Sorry Clippers, at some point Paul George and Kawhi Leonard have to play together.)
Of course, it’s frustrating that the Warriors cannot approach every game with the intensity and zeal they brought to Saturday’s contest, but it’s better to have seen the Dubs’ championship-worthy best — if only for a moment — than to have no idea if this team can play at that championship level.
Knowing the Warriors, Golden State isn’t likely to parlay this impressive win into a run. No, they proved that the winning machine can still kick it into the highest gear, and now they’re going to moderate the RPMs.
In a few weeks, I’m guessing that we’ll be wondering all the same questions we were asking going into the game against Boston.
So remember how the Warriors played Saturday.
Yes, this team still has it. They just don’t need to prove that to anyone but for a few special occasions a year.
And while it undoubtedly seems like bad practice to not play your best for most of the season, I ask you (and me) to remember something else:
These guys know what they’re doing. They have a bit of practice at winning titles. Everything is going to be fine.
But yes, it was nice to watch the eradicate all doubt around these parts — while creeping some into the Celtics’ skulls — if only for a night.
