Sunday Shootaround: Can anyone beat the Warriors?

OAKLAND -- The phrase "since the Detroit game" has been thrown around a lot this past week by the Golden State Warriors. When you have only four losses, it’s pretty easy to remember each and every one of them, but the Detroit game has special significance for the Warriors in that it may have been their worst performance of the season.

It wasn’t at the end of a long road trip or an exhausting winning streak and they had their full complement of players. They just got beat, which happens. It just doesn’t happen to the Warriors all that much. When you win as much as Golden State, the losses tend to stand out as particular lines of demarcation. (Mention the Portland Trail Blazers in Boston and people of a certain age will still tell you they can’t believe the Celtics lost that game at the Garden in 1986.)

The Detroit game was totally justified by almost any measure of the NBA season. Slippage is inevitable during the course of an 82-game season and when travel and fatigue mix with boredom, it can often result in what coach Steve Kerr calls "human nature games."

What separates the good teams from the mediocre is the ability to bounce back with a well-timed victory or two. What separates the great teams from the merely good is the ability to not only win, but to recapture the spirit and the style of play that made you successful.

We can comfortably say that the Warriors are a great team. They already have a championship along with one of the best regular seasons in history. What separates them from everyone else is their ability to play at their best against the other top teams in the league. After all, we may be witnessing the greatest regular season of all time and what we have seen since the Detroit game is the most dominant stretch of their era.

It started with a 34-point win in Cleveland that was so thorough, the Cavs went ahead and fired their coach a week later. They followed that up with another 34-point win over the Bulls that still had them questioning their own toughness 48 hours later. The coup de grâce was delivered on Monday when the Warriors ran roughshod over the Spurs in what was their most complete end-to-end performance.

Then they beat the Mavs -- one of the four teams with a win against them -- by 20, a margin that was made even more impressive by the fact that it was a one-point game midway through the third quarter. Throw in a casual 12-point victory over a decent Pacers team, add in the mildly interesting historical nugget that no team has ever racked up 30 assists in five straight games since the 1995 Orlando Magic, and it’s clear that the Warriors are simply operating on a different plane of existence than everyone else right now.

"We needed a boost after the Detroit game and the schedule was perfect for us to play these great teams and have to bring our best stuff," Kerr said before the Dallas game. "And we have for the last couple of weeks."

While the world may view them as flashy and exciting, the truth is the Warriors are relentless and ruthless. Give them a matchup and they will exploit it. Give them an opening and they will bury you in a blizzard of threes and backdoor cuts. Don’t even think about challenging them at Oracle where they haven’t lost a regular season game in over a calendar year. Perhaps the most impressive thing about this team is that they are not satisfied.

"How in the world did we lose four games?" Draymond Green deadpanned to great laughter, only he wasn’t joking. "It’s great. It hasn’t been easy that’s for sure, especially coming off the championship season where we’re going to get everybody’s best shot anyway because they want to beat the defending champs. The most exciting part of it is to me is we have so much room to grow. Everybody’s excited like, ‘Man, you won by 30 and everyone played great (against the Spurs).’ We had 21 turnovers. Yeah we’re (42-4.) Yeah that’s great. But we’re nowhere near where I know we’re going to get. That’s encouraging."

There are two overriding questions for the Warriors at this point: How great are they and can anyone in the league do anything about it? The answer to the first question is still developing. They are ahead of the Bulls’ 72-win pace, which is the only historical marker standing in their way.

Bettering the Bulls’ mark isn’t a big deal to Kerr. He’s long resisted any comparisons between his current team and the one he used to play for back in the day. Kerr is smart enough to know that comparing teams from different eras is foolish given the evolutionary nature of the game, and he’s savvy enough to know that it really doesn’t matter. What matters to him is getting home court in the playoffs.

"The biggest value is in the standings," Kerr said before the Spurs game. "We’re neck and neck and I think home court is a big deal. It helps. Especially if you end up with a Game 7. That’s where I’ve always felt  matters the most. That’s why these games are important. The other stuff is all just chatter and it doesn’t matter that much."

Later in the week Kerr said they would consider resting players if and when they needed it, but not as a matter of course like Gregg Popovich does with the Spurs. Considering the Warriors are involved in so many blowouts, there’s a natural minutes limit that takes place organically. His players are also younger and you get the sense that 72 wins does mean something to them, even if they’re careful not to express that too often publicly.

"It’s a balance," Kerr said. "You want to give people rest if they need it. If they’re in a good groove and they don’t need it then there’s no reason to do it, but you have to look at the big picture. If people are healthy and feeling good then they’re going to play."

The answer to the second question isn’t looking real promising for their competitors. Even at full strength, the Cavs have had no answers for Golden State. The Warriors made a living attacking Kevin Love in pick and rolls and they know they have the ultimate antidote to Cleveland’s bruising size with their smallball lineup of death.

The Spurs, well, the Spurs may still have something different to add to the equation. They played on Monday without Tim Duncan, which left a gaping hole in the middle that the Dubs exploited again and again with back cuts and well-timed passes. One can safely assume that Duncan’s presence would have deterred at least some of those looks and one can also assume the Spurs won’t play that badly again when they see each other again in March.

Even with those caveats, the Warriors made Tony Parker irrelevant while Green took LaMarcus Aldridge completely out of the game. Things will be different the next time they play, but the Warriors’ athletic advantages were real and pronounced in their Monday matchup.

"It was our night. It wasn’t theirs," Kerr said. "What does that mean? I don’t know. Next time we play them we know what’s coming, we know what they have in store for us. It’s just one game and I don’t think the score means anything. It’s a great win and we move on."

Few things make NBA coaches edgier than dominating performances by their teams because that tends to invite complacency. Sure enough, the Warriors turned in a haphazard effort against a Dallas team that was playing without Dirk Nowitzki and Zaza Pachulia. Steph Curry missed wide open shots, Green was on the bench with foul trouble and Kerr noted that their defensive intensity was "nowhere to be found."

And they still won by 20 points. The Warriors can beat you in so many ways and on that night it was Klay Thompson, who scored 45 points on just 20 shots. They are so good that they know they can beat a majority of teams with a single sustained push. That would be dangerous for most teams, but the Warriors’ confidence in themselves is as much a part of their aura as Curry’s otherworldly shot making.

"I don’t believe in overly confident," Green said. "I don’t know what that is honestly. We’re not going to come out and take anyone lightly if that’s what overconfident is. People are too good in this league to take anyone lightly, so yeah I don’t really worry about that. The more confidence we get the better.

"We have a group full of competitors," Green continued. "Obviously we see everything that everybody says and we do what we have to about that. I definitely don’t think there’s any stage that’s too big for us."

On Saturday, the Warriors nearly blew a double-digit lead against the woeful 76ers and Green acknowledged that his pursuit of a triple double may have been partly to blame for their loss of focus. Of course, he also came up with the game-winning assist when he calmly dished to Harrison Barnes in the corner for a game-winning 3-pointer in the final second. From here on out, their toughest opponent appears to be themselves.

While last year was wild and chaotic, this year has been fairly mundane. The true contenders are established and the MVP race seems settled. It’s been harder than ever to come up with truly compelling storylines to flesh out the regular season, but there are still a handful of unanswered questions worth considering as we stagger toward the All-Star break.

Embrace the Rapture: Hey Canada, let’s talk this out. I understand that you’re a little nervous about falling for these Raptors. You’ve seen it before and you’ve also seen how this ends. I’ll grant you that these guys have to win a playoff series (or even two) to justify whatever they’re doing during the regular season. But guys, I think this team might be really good. Like, legitimately good. It’s OK to enjoy this now and worry about the playoffs later.

The Race for the Eighth: There are as many as five teams in the West that could sneak into that final playoff spot. Utah and New Orleans really need to get into the postseason this year for various reasons. Getting there would validate those crazy Kings. The Blazers are young, confident and have Dame Lillard on their side. Denver’s a longshot, but the Nuggets have talent and a good coach. This is shaping up to be the best playoff race we have and reason enough to stay up late with League Pass. Given the competition it wouldn’t surprise me if one of those teams also displaced someone from the Houston/Dallas/Memphis trio from the postseason mix, as well.

The KD and Russ Show: This couldn’t have played out any better for Oklahoma City. With all the attention focused on the Warriors, Spurs and Cavs, OKC has very quietly assumed its place as the other team in the Finals mix. That’s just how Kevin Durant likes it and the Thunder’s anonymous excellence has removed most of the regular season pressure from his impending free agency. It’s also allowed coach Billy Donovan to acclimate himself to the pro game with a minimum of drama. Russell Westbrook, meanwhile, has ascended into the upper stratosphere of superstars. This is a team worth paying attention to down the stretch.

Sorting Through the East: We now know that there are a number of decent teams in the East. That seemed fresh and exciting back in November, but with more quantity than quality, the playoff chase has become stale and uninspiring. Still, there are seven or eight teams that can finish anywhere from third to the lottery and postseason positioning will be everything. Winning a playoff series or two may feel cosmetic, but try telling that to the Hawks, Bulls, Heat, Celtics, Pacers, Pistons, etc.

The Boom or Bust Trade Deadline: Things are awfully quiet on the trade front right now. With so many contenders there are fewer sellers than usual and asking prices have remained high. And yet, the big huge momentous deals have a way of sneaking up on us at the last minute. The hunch is the deadline will pass quietly with only a few murmurs here or there, but one big move would have a ripple effect on the rest of the league and open the door to a whole bunch of blockbusters.