I'm surprised that Vegas has the Warriors as heavy favorites (see 2nd to
last paragraph). I expected the Warriors to get some favoritism but the
Kings to still be favored by a little. -AL

============================================================

‘This is what you play for’: Warriors look forward to playoff reset
after tumultuous season
Warriors have gone 93-34 in the postseason during Steve Kerr's tenure
and have not lost a series with Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay
Thompson healthy for all games

>Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) dribbles against Minnesota
Timberwolves’ Mike Conley (10) in the second quarter at the Chase Center
in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, March 26, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay
Area News Group)
By MADELINE KENNEY | mkenney@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: April 10, 2023 at 4:26 p.m. | UPDATED: April 10, 2023 at 4:38
p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/04/10/this-is-what-you-play-for-warriors-look-forward-to-playoff-reset-after-tumultuous-season/

PORTLAND — It might have taken all 82, but the Warriors punched their
postseason ticket Sunday with their blowout win against the Portland
Trail Blazers.

So forgive them if they didn’t want to spend a lot of time reflecting on
their tumultuous 44-38 season.

“We got where we needed to get and that’s into the playoffs,” coach
Steve Kerr said after Sunday’s season-ending win. “We’ve got a chance
and that’s all we were hoping for.”

Golden State is eying another deep postseason run after an up-and-down
six months. It’s hard to doubt the Warriors when Stephen Curry, Draymond
Green and Klay Thompson are healthy. They’re the reigning champions who
have gone 93-34 in the postseason during Kerr’s tenure.

With that experience comes perspective. Golden State learned there’s no
consolation prize for being the best in the regular season in 2015-16
when they finished with a record-setting 73 wins but fell short in the
NBA Finals.

“The moral of the story is it does not matter what you do in the regular
season into the playoffs,” Green said. “Your team will be judged by how
you do in the playoffs.”

And so even though this regular season had gone haywire at times and
there were many nights, especially on the road, when they didn’t have
answers to why things weren’t going their way, the Warriors are
confident they can make the most of their opportunity ahead of them.

So forget about the 11-30 road record, the stretches of bad basketball,
injuries and drama at the trade deadline. And instead, look at where
they are now.

The Warriors ended the season by putting together their best 10-game
stretch of the season, going 8-2 to give the defending champs a fighting
chance to take another — and possibly their last — crack at a title run
before a possible breakup this offseason. Gary Payton II has gotten
reacclimated with his teammates and provided a defensive boost the team
had hoped he would when they dealt former No. 2 overall pick James
Wiseman for him at the deadline.

Meanwhile, Andrew Wiggins is back in the building and gearing up to play
in his first game since Feb. 13 after he missed the last two months of
the season to deal with a family matter.

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“It has definitely been a long season, long road to get here, but
ultimately, this is what you play for,” Green said. “Whether you’re the
one seed or six seed, whatever seed you are, that matters for one day
and that’s who you play, and that’s it. You got to then go in and win
the game, so that’s our mindset… We got to where we needed to be, now
it’s time to care of business.”

The Warriors will have a week of practice before driving up to
Sacramento for Game 1 against the Kings on Saturday. They’ll use this
time to gameplan for the Kings, who they beat three times in four
matchups this season.

While the battle-tested Warriors are heavily favored by Vegas because of
their personnel and reputation, Curry acknowledged the tough task ahead.

“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster all year, had some really
disappointing losses, had some big wins, obviously our road troubles and
all that, but now it’s time to lay it out on the line and another
playoff series that we thrive on,” Curry said. “That’s who we are, the
expectations we have for ourselves, there’s an excitement that comes
with that.”

--
Madeline Kenney | Warriors reporter
Madeline Kenney is the Bay Area News Group's Golden State Warriors beat
reporter for The Mercury News and East Bay Times. A Nebraska native, she
is graduate of Loyola University of Chicago. She holds a Bachelor in
Communication degree, with a major in broadcast journalism and minors in
sports management and marketing, and is a friend of Sister Jean, the
103-year-old nun who became famous during the Ramblers’ 2018 run to the
Final Four, Madeline previously worked for the Chicago Sun-Times
covering everything from sports to crime and politics. When she’s not
working, she enjoys trying new restaurants and exploring the great outdoors.

On 4/11/2023 11:32 AM, NFN Smith wrote:
> Allen wrote:
>> I'm surprised that Vegas has the Warriors as heavy favorites (see 2nd
>> to last paragraph). I expected the Warriors to get some favoritism but
>> the Kings to still be favored by a little.  -AL
>
> Meh.
>
> Vegas numbers don't mean anything other than where the bookies guess
> that they're going to get equal money on both sides, not who's actually
> likely to win.
>
> I'm not surprised that they would have the Warriors as favorites -- a
> top-tier team for nearly a decade, multiple championships, etc. (and
> still a lot of bandwagon fans) against a Kings team that has been pretty
> much irrelevant for even longer.  There aren't a lot of Kings fans that
> are putting down money.  I'm sure that the bookies are accounting for
> "just glad to be here" on the part of the Kings.
>
> One of my favorite examples is with the Super Bowl in 1984.  Washington
> was the defending champion and the Raiders were coming in as a wild card
> team.  Washington fans (at least during that era) bet with their hearts,
> and over the week before the game, the bookies had to keep raising the
> line to get enough money on the Raiders.
>
> When the Raiders won in a blowout, the bookies took a bath.  Nearly as
> satisfying as watching the Lakers miss the playoffs last year.
>
> Smith

A very good point about the betting money angle!

-Allen

Allen wrote:
> I'm surprised that Vegas has the Warriors as heavy favorites (see 2nd to
> last paragraph). I expected the Warriors to get some favoritism but the
> Kings to still be favored by a little.  -AL

Meh.

Vegas numbers don't mean anything other than where the bookies guess
that they're going to get equal money on both sides, not who's actually
likely to win.

I'm not surprised that they would have the Warriors as favorites -- a
top-tier team for nearly a decade, multiple championships, etc. (and
still a lot of bandwagon fans) against a Kings team that has been pretty
much irrelevant for even longer. There aren't a lot of Kings fans that
are putting down money. I'm sure that the bookies are accounting for
"just glad to be here" on the part of the Kings.

One of my favorite examples is with the Super Bowl in 1984. Washington
was the defending champion and the Raiders were coming in as a wild card
team. Washington fans (at least during that era) bet with their hearts,
and over the week before the game, the bookies had to keep raising the
line to get enough money on the Raiders.

When the Raiders won in a blowout, the bookies took a bath. Nearly as
satisfying as watching the Lakers miss the playoffs last year.

Smith