The Golden State Warriors are just the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference through their first 41 games, going 21-20 overall, but that has not swayed guard Stephen Curry’s confidence.
The two-time league MVP believes that Golden State can compete with anyone in the NBA despite the slow start to the 2024-25 season.
“Hundred percent feel like we can beat anybody in a playoff series because we’ve done it,” Curry said. “We have the knowhow, and we just want to be able to answer that question with how we’re playing and not imagine.
“… We’ve been there. We know how to do it. Just feel like we can do it again.”
The Warriors have won four titles with Curry leading the way, and he and Draymond Green certainly have the playoff experience to make Golden State dangerous if it makes the playoffs.
However, the Warriors have not played well after a quick start to the season. After a win on Nov. 22 against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Warriors were 12-3 and looked to be one of the better teams in the West.
Since then, they’ve won just nine of their last 26 games. Golden State was actually under .500 at 19-20 before winning back-to-back games against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Wizards to get to 21-20.
Golden State has a tough matchup on Monday, as it’ll play the defending champion Boston Celtics. The Celtics currently are the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 29-13 record.
The Warriors look different from their last title team, as Klay Thompson is no longer with the franchise and neither is guard Jordan Poole. Golden State rebounded from a few down seasons to capture the title in the 2021-22 campaign, but it failed to make the playoffs last season.
This season, Curry is averaging 23.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game while shooting 45.0 percent from the field and an impressive 41.1 percent from 3. Despite the strong play from the 10-time All-Star, Golden State has some work to do to make the playoffs.
On the bright side, the Warriors aren’t way out of a playoff spot. In fact, they are just 1.5 games back of the No. 6-seeded Los Angeles Lakers since there is such a jam in the Western Conference standings.
If the Warriors want to prove that they can beat anyone in the playoffs, getting into a top-six seed would go a long way, as they’d avoid the play-in tournament (where they were knocked out last season) in the West.
