Golden State Warriors: 5 Takeaways From Second-Round Loss To Spurs

5. This is just the beginning for this Warriors team

May 16, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry (30) is introduced before game six of the second round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

All these other takeaways amount to a team that gave a greater fight in this postseason than pretty much anyone outside Oakland expected.  Every single ESPN analyst picked against them in round one.  Plenty of them picked against Golden State in five games this time around.  Even more, ESPN predicted they wouldn’t make playoffs, and predicted a far worse record.

This team made a name for themselves by defying expectations and proving that they were more than anyone expected.  They did that by making playoffs.  They did it again by beating Denver. And they did it again by dragging San Antonio through a tough second round, including that double overtime thriller.

They did it with Stephen Curry, the emerging superstar at the helm, their first All-Star since Latrell Sprewell in David Lee (who managed small impacts in minor minutes against San Antonio), Klay Thompson playing at a good level, Harrison Barnes coming out as a true-impact rookie and by playing sound defense.  All under the tutelage of a coach as new as some of the players.

The biggest part of all of this is that this is a young team.  Their average age is 24.  They’ll be around for a long time, and seeing what they did this year really shows their potential.  And with what they managed to pull off this season, they could be contenders for a long time.  Make no mistake, this team is just getting started.