ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — With only three games left to play in the regular season, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has been routinely asked about the playoffs.
The Warriors have clinched the No. 1 seed and will maintain homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, including the NBA Finals if they get that far, but the common narrative on the national scene has been, “They haven’t been there before.”
As Tim Bontemps of the New York Post writes (in favor of the Warriors winning the title):
So why aren’t the Warriors getting their due heading into the playoffs as the only team that truly should be expected to win it all? Well, because they haven’t done it before.
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In the NBA, contenders usually have to go through a growth phase on their path to winning a championship: you make the playoffs, then win a round, then win a couple rounds, eventually get to the Finals and win the title. It’s something virtually every contending team has gone through over the years.
But Kerr can draw on his own vast experience as a player in the NBA playoffs, as well as that of his coaching staff.
“I’ve seen just about everything, I think,” Kerr told reporters before tonight’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, “and I will definitely use whatever I can to help our guys.”
But what about the Warriors themselves?
“Don’t forget, our players have been in the playoffs. The last couple years, great success two years ago, and playing with a lot of injuries and taking the Clippers to seven (games) and feeling what that’s like to be in a Game 7 on the road,” said Kerr.
“We’re not the (San Antonio) Spurs with 28 years of Tim Duncan going through the playoffs and all that,” joked Kerr, “but we’ve got our share of expierence and a good combination of young legs to go with it and I think it’s a good mix.”
For the record, Duncan has 16 years of NBA playoff experience under his belt.
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