Why are people surprised the Warriors are killing it without Curry?

[dankok8]

This team won 73 games and is in the discussion for best team ever. They are demolishing two teams that won 41 and 44 games and are 21st and 20th in DRtg, respectively. Warriors without Curry are still an elite defensive team, elite passing team, and have two all-stars.

Why is it surprising? And it's not a knock on Curry in any way.

[Lebronxrings]

its not surprising at all.

[Velocirap31]

It's just the ridiculous stats that Curry puts up. It only seems logical that the team would have a hard time replacing his production with other less-skilled players.

[ScalsFan21]

This team won 73 games and is in the discussion for best team ever. They are demolishing two teams that won 41 and 44 games and are 21st and 20th in DRtg, respectively. Warriors without Curry are still an elite defensive team, elite passing team, and have two all-stars.

Why is it surprising? And it's not a knock on Curry in any way.

Not surprising at all. I think (and have said all year) that the #2 through #12 guys on Golden State are the 3rd best team in the entire NBA and would either destroy or beat at least 27 teams. This group could win damn near 60 games in the regular season on their own.

But on the flip side, yes. They're beating two of the least potent teams in the playoffs, each with pathetic defenses, and to be fair the only reason they have the luxury of facing these teams is because Stephen Curry helped earn 73 wins, which has placed them in a bracket opposite SAS, and to a MUCH lesser extent, OKC. I also think they would have beaten a healthy LAC convincingly in 5 games at most, so I'm not gonna cry over Chris Paul and the overrated Griffin getting hurt.

They earned the right to avoid the only two teams in the West capable of making them work (either of which they would SMACK in 5 or less if healthy) because Stephen Curry led them to the best record in regular season NBA history.

It is the most stacked supporting cast that any superstar has probably ever had. But the fact that they are barely going to have to work to get out of these first 2 rounds is a credit to the fact that Curry helped earn a 1-seed over a team that lost one home game all season. That's historic.

[DoctorP]

They would be undefeated with Curry. I'd bet on that.

[DukeDelonte13]

I'm not surprised. Curry is MVP of the league, but Draymond is MVP of the Warriors.

[Im Still Ballin]

Nope

Without Curry they are still a 55-60 win team, beating up on a mid 40's squad

[dankok8]

Not surprising at all. I think (and have said all year) that the #2 through #12 guys on Golden State are the 3rd best team in the entire NBA and would either destroy or beat at least 27 teams. This group could win damn near 60 games in the regular season on their own.

But on the flip side, yes. They're beating two of the least potent teams in the playoffs, each with pathetic defenses, and to be fair the only reason they have the luxury of facing these teams is because Stephen Curry helped earn 73 wins, which has placed them in a bracket opposite SAS, and to a MUCH lesser extent, OKC. I also think they would have beaten a healthy LAC convincingly in 5 games at most, so I'm not gonna cry over Chris Paul and the overrated Griffin getting hurt.

They earned the right to avoid the only two teams in the West capable of making them work (either of which they would SMACK in 5 or less if healthy) because Stephen Curry led them to the best record in regular season NBA history.

It is the most stacked supporting cast that any superstar has probably ever had. But the fact that they are barely going to have to work to get out of these first 2 rounds is a credit to the fact that Curry helped earn a 1-seed over a team that lost one home game all season. That's historic.

I agree with this post and I think that Warriors sans Curry still win close to 60 games. And outside of the Spurs who would surely beat them and likely the Cavs/OKC, these Warriors are still better than any other team in the league.

Still let's not lose track of the fact that going from a GOAT-level 73 win team to the 3rd or 4th best team in the league and just under 60 wins is still a colossal drop-off. How people are using the whole thing to rip on Curry is beyond me. Going from 45 to 59 wins is just a 14-game improvement. Going from a 59 to 73 wins is probably equivalent to a 25-game improvement at least. It's so much harder to improve when you're already great!

[imnew09]

Struggling against the Blazers....

Okay.

[dubnation]

I'm not surprised. Curry is MVP of the league, but Draymond is MVP of the Warriors.

This has become a really popular saying. but it's pretty silly. Curry was by far the best player in the league this season and the main reason the Warriors had a historically great season. It stands to reason that he'd also be the most "valuable" player on the Warriors. Draymond is amazing but let's not get it twisted.

It's not surprising that they're doing well. The Rockets and Blazers aren't anything special, and the Warriors without Curry still have a top 10 player, another all-star, and probably the strongest supporting cast in the league. Tonight is big, though. If they lose again there will be a lot of urgency to get Steph back as soon as possible.

[ScalsFan21]

There's no doubt in my mind that Warriors in 5 will happen. Steph is upgraded to questionable but I'm writing this post under the assumption he will NOT play tonight.

If... IF... it gets to 2-2, which would be a shock to me, then I think you have to play Steph in game 5. You cannot let this get to a situation where if you lose a Game 5, then you're faced with a road game 6 elimination game in what will be Curry's return to the court, needing to win his first two games back. They would almost certainly win that, but you just CAN'T let it get to that point. They've worked way too hard to let anything crazy happen.

It's a similar situation to last round. When the Rockets took Game 3, we all knew Warriors in 5 was still a near-lock, but if the Rockets tied it, it's so hard to justify keeping Curry off the court in a swing G5 and risk coming within one game of elimination. They may not have had a choice then, but with the progress he's made, they have that choice now.

They should sit him tonight 100%. If the Warriors win, he should sit game 5 as well. No need to "warm him up" for the next series, he's too good to need that. But if they lose (15% chance if that), you gotta throw him out there in Game 5. No choice IMO.

[stalkerforlife]

It's about to be 2-2 after tonight.

WTF are they killing? LOL.

[warriorfan]

multiple meltdowns ITT already :lol

have fun propping up the curryless warriors cause they got a few wins at home vs Harden's Rockets and this Shell of a Blazers team

anyone who knows 2 shits about bball know that rocket and blazer team are wack AF and warriors have been getting their wins at home

they dont' eveen have a .500 record on the road vs the blazers and rockets in this playoff....that is not impressive that is embarrassing....if the warriors were half as good as these melting mothers will try to portray they should be sweeping the fucc out of these garbage teams like the rockets and blazers....not struggling to win on the road

[Spurs m8]

They are playing the blazers and lost

I'm surprised they are not doing better for a so called GOAT team

[Straight_Ballin]

Come finals time, this shit NEEDS to be full healthy GSW vs full healthy Cavs. We were already robbed as fans watching a piss poor finals where one team had too many injuries.

Sorry Spurs fans, no one wants a finals where we get to watch Tim Duncan score 0 points... The man won in three different decades but people want to see a rematch of last year with both teams fully healthy. Fans want 2/7 to hit and they want it to hit hard.

[swagga]

TLDR -> because both kobe stans and casual fans can't understand basketball without heroball.

[MiseryCityTexas]

Shaun Livingston's still a great player even though that injury robbed him of his prime years. His size alone is capable of shutting down opposing point guards.

[Optimus Prime]

"Killing it" while losing to the practice squad Blazers and barely .500 Rockets?

OK bro.

http://lakers.topbuzz.com/gallery/d/285777-3/Kobe+Bryant+gives+a+big+thumbs+up.JPG

[Spurs m8]

Come finals time, this shit NEEDS to be full healthy GSW vs full healthy Cavs. We were already robbed as fans watching a piss poor finals where one team had too many injuries.

Sorry Spurs fans, no one wants a finals where we get to watch Tim Duncan score 0 points... The man won in three different decades but people want to see a rematch of last year with both teams fully healthy. Fans want 2/7 to hit and they want it to hit hard.

LOL you're an ESPN fed basketball 'fan'