Spurs and Warriors both played their starters in meaningless-to-playoff seeding or home-court advantage games right up to the final games of the regular season.

OKC didn't even bother sending Durant and Westbrook on road trips the final week of the season.

Spurs starters--in a quest to maintain their home game win streak--played about 10 more minutes than they would've in any usual regular season game in their final home game against a Durant-less and Westbrook-less Thunder team--Thunder's 2nd unit took the Spurs to OT that game.

of course the Warriors went all out to the final game to get to 73 wins.

No surprise both an aged Spurs team that maybe otherwise would've rested Duncan et al the last week of the regular season and a Warriors team that made a herculean effort to win 73 both look/looked less energetic than OKC in the playoffs.

I just think it is a bad matchup for Golden State. OKC has skilled bigs. They're also young bigs. Golden State has benefitted from playing in a league that doesn't have a lot of big men. Draymond is a good defender but 6'5, 6'6 is still going to be 6'5/ 6'6. You throw Westbrook and Durant into the mix and you see that this is the most talented team in the NBA. 1-7 they can lock up with anyone.

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they won in a blowout and none of the starters played more than 30 minutes. but nice try

Didn't he also say that the Warriors would be bigger than the 90s Bulls?

So far not so much.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

30 minutes is starter minutes in 2016; playing 30 minutes in a NBA game is never a cake-walk.

Warriors were scuffling at the end. dropping not just games but home games to eastern conference also-rans. they and the Spurs both played way harder than they needed to play to have the playoff position they ended up with--while OKC NetFlix'd and chilled.

Ok so your argument is that the reason they're down 2-1 to OKC right now is because they tried too hard in the last weeks ?

I don't see how anyone can say either of these teams is significantly better than the other. GS will recover and take game 4. This series is going the distance (it's going for speed).

Also, Kerr is out of his mind. I'm boycotting the first 30 seconds of game 4 if Green isn't suspended. You heard me. I will do it, too!

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-- source

Not just that they played; but also that OKC chilled while Spurs and Warriors ran through the tape on the regular season.

Both Spurs and Warriors could've given their starters extended rest at the end of the regular season; they did not.

OKC didnt even bother sending Westbrook and Durant on road trips the final week of the season.

One team rested, the other 2 teams did not.

The team that saved it for the post-season is 6-3 against those other 2 teams in the post-season.

Series is far from over.

Green's kick sure looked intentional to me.

Kerr comparing it to Westbrook kicking his legs on his jumper is funny.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Yeah, Adams is 7 foot+. No way Draymond's natural reaction that is to kick-up that high and hard.

I don't know if they need Draymond to win the next game. But if they don't have Green in the lineup, that's going to make the rest of the increasingly tired-looking Warriors starters cover for his absence. They can do it for 1 game. But then at what cost for the rest of the series.

Is it that crazy of a theory?

According to NBA Super Genius Popovich rest is very important.

This series gives credence to the contention that they really didn't have to beat a good team on their road to the championship last season. This is the first really good team that they have had to face. I'm finding it funny that Kerr keeps talking about quick shots. Barkley called him on it too. Those are the types of shots that Golden State takes. When they are hitting them he looks like a genius for allowing them to take shots otherwise considered to be terrible.

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i'd be willing to buy the argument more for an older team like the Spurs
but the Warriors ? c'mon
it's the playoffs
they got their ass kicked, pure and simple
has nothing to do with the fact that Curry played a regular season game in April

if the Warriors had won that game last night would you all of a sudden be saying "OKC shouldn't have rested their players those last few weeks they're rusty !!"

The Warriors had 3 days of rest in between games too. I agree with you. Fatigue isn't the reason they are down 2-1.

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Wha? the team that set the record for regular season wins a few weeks back is over-rated? I don't think that's it.

2015-2016 Warriors are close to the best team ever, according to the stat geeks.

Warriors might be young--but so is OKC. Warriors not only put forth more effort at the end of the regular season, they also had a longer post-season in 2015....OKC didn't. It's not just that the Warriors/Spurs look tired; OKC doesn't.



http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the ... team-ever/

Golden State struggled with Memphis in the playoffs last season. Even with Conley sitting out a few games. They struggled with Cleveland minus Love and Irving. This is not an all time great team that we are watching.

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a team that wins 73 games and sets the record for regular season wins is not one of the all time great teams?

I'd agree that they struggled to win 60+ games and a championship. All the Bulls championship teams struggled too, especially against the Jazz, Knicks, and Pacers. Struggling doesn't mean anything in a seven game series.

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Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

They struggled against teams that weren't very good. This is a different story. OKC is for real. They knocked off a 67 win team. If they beat OKC then Cleveland you can place them in that all time great team category.

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I hate to say this, but Uncle Teary has been on the Thunder bandwagon since the beginning.

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If the league suspends Green, how long does Kerr stick with his starters before throwing in the towel on Game 4 and deciding it's not worth it to run Curry with his multiple strains and pulls out there in a losing cause. Better to rest his starters, circle the wagons and try to win 2 at home and game 6 at OKC WITH Draymond?

After the Warriors blowout win, there was a total of 2 posts made in this thread. OKC blowout win, 3 more pages...

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I tried sticking up for you, but they wouldn't have it.

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Yeah, it's impossible to argue that was accidental.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

What if free will does not exist?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Go die in a fire, Rick.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

leash will give you a cookie.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Easy to say that after your boy Nas deletes all the evidence.

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