The Golden Sate Warriors Still On Top

The Golden State Warriors entered the current NBA season with a championship behind them and doubters in front of them.

Yeah, yeah, 67-15 in 2014-15, 16-5 in the playoffs, an NBA Finals MVP in Andre Iguodala and a regular-season MVP in Stephen Curry. And still some pundits picked them as only the third-best team in the league this go-round, considering the Western Conference’s depth.

It is to laugh. The Warriors are 12-0 going into Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers (6-4) and shooting for the NBA’s first 13-0 start since the 2002-03 Dallas Mavericks. And this is with their coach, Steve Kerr, out with a back injury.

Curry still leads this fast-paced band and he’s hardly inclined to slow down. He’s averaging a league-leading 33.7 points per game and he’s draining 3-pointers on a pace to destroy the single-season mark of 286 he set last season.

The Warriors and Clippers are not fans of each other. Clippers coach Doc Rivers said luck was involved in the Warriors winning the title because they did not have to face the Clippers or the San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs. Of course, neither got in their way.

“You have to respect what they’re doing, and the way they’ve gone about it,” Clippers forward Blake Griffin told the Los Angeles Times. “The best way I can describe it is clutter-free basketball. They don’t have any hang-ups. That’s the way it has to be done.”

You have to respect it. And you might as well enjoy it.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .