Hollinger has ranked the remaining playoff teams (insider) and has the Warriors just behind San Antonio and one spot ahead of the Suns.
Just in case I haven't hammered this point home yet: Golden State with a healthy Baron Davis and a healthy Jason Richardson is a scary, scary team. The Warriors score, they pressure the ball and force turnovers, they can spread the floor with shooters and run you ragged, and (shhhh!) they even have a real center, if they feel like playing one, in the rapidly improving Andris Biedrins.
That said, I would quibble with the Warriors' outranking the Suns for one reason: It assumes perfect health. In Golden State's case, this may be a cavalier assumption. Davis has a bad hammy that could limit him in the Utah series, while Matt Barnes also is wounded. And even if Davis can overcome the hamstring problem, there's no guarantee he won't hurt something else three days from now.
But fully healthy? I'd take these Warriors over just about anybody. Even without home court they're a solid favorite against Utah in Round 2, and are good enough that they could knock off Phoenix and shock the world if they got to the conference finals. Well, if they played Phoenix, that is. Which would be the greatest series ever, but probably won't happen, because there's one little problem in the way ...
Yeah, it didn't make me feel any better either.
That said, I would quibble with the Warriors' outranking the Suns for one reason: It assumes perfect health. In Golden State's case, this may be a cavalier assumption. Davis has a bad hammy that could limit him in the Utah series, while Matt Barnes also is wounded. And even if Davis can overcome the hamstring problem, there's no guarantee he won't hurt something else three days from now.
But fully healthy? I'd take these Warriors over just about anybody. Even without home court they're a solid favorite against Utah in Round 2, and are good enough that they could knock off Phoenix and shock the world if they got to the conference finals. Well, if they played Phoenix, that is. Which would be the greatest series ever, but probably won't happen, because there's one little problem in the way ...