So, are these Dubs for real?
We might know the answer to that before we know who the next president of the United States will be.
The Warriors are playing excellent basketball this season and are 6-1 on the campaign. It’s no fluke—the Dubs are the second-best defensive team in the NBA, forcing 17 turnovers a game. Those stops have helped create transition offense opportunities that allow the team to play at a faster pace and put up more than 90 shots a game.
But before we all start putting holds on our calendars so we can watch Warriors basketball in May and June, it should be noted that the Dubs have played unquestionably the easiest schedule in the league so far.
All the credit in the world for taking advantage of the opportunity — that was anything but easy, considering Steph Curry just missed three games with a twisted ankle. That said, who have the Warriors beaten? Any good teams?
I haven’t seen one yet. Sorry, Houston.
That changes starting Wednesday, which starts a three-game road stretch against the NBA’s three best teams this season: the Celtics, the undefeated Cavs, and the team to beat in the West, the Thunder.
I won’t say that an NBA game in November is important. It’s far too early for that kind of talk.
So how about this: this troika, which starts with a national TV showdown between the Warriors and defending champions, will be… illuminating.
Let’s focus on the first game of the three: The Celtics have carried the momentum of their title into the 2024-25 season, starting with a 7-1 record, albeit against a slate of opponents that’s arguably as unimpressive as the Warriors’.
But the Celtics have nothing to prove. On the other hand, the Warriors have everything to prove coming off a season where they were the last team to make the postseason in the Western Conference and were run off the court in the play-in tournament. And that was before an on-the-fly offseason makeover following Klay Thompson’s exit to Dallas.
We don’t yet know what the Dubs are.
A win on Wednesday, at the site where the Warriors won the 2022 NBA title, would tell us a whole lot.
Even playing the Celtics close would say something about the future of this season’s Warriors — that they’re ready to be more than feisty in a loaded Western Conference.
All of that is easier said than done.
Not to try to recreate history, but the Warriors won the title against a younger, greener Celtics team because Steph Curry ascended to a higher plane of basketball existence, and Andrew Wiggins — an All-Star starter that season — played at that level.
That formula has to be present on Wednesday, given that Jayson Tatum — whom Warriors coach Steve Kerr famously benched in the Olympics this summer — is playing like the league’s MVP, and the Celtics added arguably the finest perimeter defender in the league, Jrue Holiday, since these two teams faced off on the biggest stage in the game.
But while the Warriors are betting on Wiggins to have a big season (what else can they do?), betting on a wild card usually doesn’t work out. And while Curry looked good in his return to the court against the Wizards on Monday, You don’t need me to tell you why that might not be a great barometer for Wednesday.
Of course, the Warriors also have Strength In Numbers Redux this season. Rocking a 12-, sometimes 13-man rotation, Kerr is keen to keep fresh legs on the floor. This roster’s high talent floor level is supposed to make up for the overall low ceiling.
But the Celtics aren’t exactly thin. Every year, general manager Brad Stevens finds another team’s cast-off to turn into a solid rotation player to round out the Celtics’ always-potent second unit.
This year, that player Neemias Queta, who — quick aside — I once saw work James Wiseman over in a G-League game in Stockton.
So while the Warriors might have the best bench in the NBA this season — first in net rating, per NBA.com stats — the Celtics are at No. 7, with the best starting unit in the league. (The Warriors check in at No. 3 there, despite a constantly rotating starting lineup.)
Strangely, if you were to remove pretense and just go off what we’ve seen this season, the Warriors and Celtics should be a fairly even matchup.
Of course, that’s not how any of this works.
If the Warriors lose on Wednesday, the bubble around this team will burst. But if they can play the Celtics even — or even win — it’s an invitation to start believing that this year won’t be like the last two.
Until Friday, that is. Then the process begins again.
So, are these Dubs for real?
Ask me on Sunday night.
