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Golden State Warriors will be avoiding Lakers in the first round of the postseason

By Steffen Pedersen

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 21: Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriors drives on Kyle Kuzma #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers during a 130-111 Warriors win at Staples Center on January 21, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 21: Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriors drives on Kyle Kuzma #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers during a 130-111 Warriors win at Staples Center on January 21, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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With only 19 games left of the regular season, Golden State has regained momentum after a horrible couple of weeks which included losses to Houston, Miami and Orlando.

The Golden State Warriors have started sitting their stars occasionally now, with Durant being out against Orlando and Thompson against Philadelphia. This doesn’t make sense if the team wants to grab homecourt advantage throughout the entire Western Conference playoffs.

But, Steve Kerr has seemed indifferent when it comes to thinking homecourt.

On the other hand, Kerr must have had a huge concern watching the bottom of the Western Conference. Could he be matched up against the LeBron James-led Lakers? Would the Lakers become a threat in the postseason, if they can make it?

Right now, the Lakers have lost their breath and that must be a relief for coach Kerr.

Sure, everybody’s talking about the troubles of the Lakers, but meeting them in the first round could be a potential disaster.

Everybody knows playoff-LeBron and playoff-Rondo know how to elevate their game. With Lonzo Ball back and Kuzma getting heating up, they could be a tough matchup.

Staples Center would be thirsty for success after a year-long drought. 2013 was the last playoff appearance for the Lakers, so the place would easily be fired up for a playoff victory.

But, this weekend Lakers stumbled once again leaving an even bigger gap to the Clippers for the 8th place in the West.

There is no doubt that the Warriors would prefer the Clippers or Spurs compared to an unpredictable Lakers team.

At the same time, the Denver Nuggets surprisingly lost at home to New Orleans Pelicans which means that the Warriors are safe on top with a delightful win in Philadelphia – even without Klay Thompson.

Going forward, Steve Kerr and his team should try hard to win as many games as possible. Would that collide with resting his stars? Maybe.

Should Golden State reach the finals they will probably match up against either Toronto or Milwaukee. Boston Celtics is seemingly still too shaky.

If that’s the scenario, the Warriors can’t just throw away their homecourt advantage by resting their team gradually. Both Toronto and Milwaukee have an amazing and thirsty home audience and they will easily make it tough on the defending champions, just as we saw last year against Houston.

Next. Looking three years into the Golden future. dark

Coach Kerr can now rest assured that he won’t meet LeBron in the first round – and therefore he needs to prioritize whether he will rest players entire games or go for the win and homecourt advantage.

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