The Golden State Warriors can still be a terrifying postseason opponent

The Golden State Warriors, given their 1-4 stretch of play with Stephen Curry on the sidelined with a tailbone injury, have struggled to keep up with teams like the Spurs and Mavericks in the playoff race.

They’re now in that play-in game No. 9-seed territory, and while being low in the rankings is fairly new for them, the Golden State Warriors are a team that opponents will not want to face in the postseason.

The Golden State Warriors, if Stephen Curry can stay healthy, should be postseason bound, and opponents won’t want to face them at full strength.

Despite not being a top-five seed in the Western Conference, the Warriors have a championship pedigree. On top of having multiple players on their roster with several championships, the Warriors have numerous high-risk, high-reward starters.

Take Kelly Oubre Jr. for example. Oubre Jr. blasted the Mavericks earlier this season with a career-high 40 points. Curry played that game, but it was the Oubre takeover that made the headlines. If they can get a performance like that twice in seven games, they’ll be winning at least two.

Assuming Curry can lead the way in the other games, they’ll be a lethal team. On top of Oubre Jr., the team has James Wiseman and Andrew Wiggins to go along with three-time All-Star Draymond Green.

While they aren’t quite on Oubre Jr.’s level of highly talented, inconsistent play, Wiggins and Wiseman do both have the potential to get 30 and 20 respectively.

The Warriors have an insanely talented roster that is so inconsistent they haven’t been able to consistently beat good teams. The Warriors have wins over the Lakers and Clippers. They’ve beaten the Jazz as well.

Those three teams are considered the best in the West, and the Warriors have beaten them. Big performances from Curry can lead this team, and if they can get to the playoffs in a season that’ll be just 72 games, they’ll be a dangerous opponent.

There was a point in the season where the Warriors had a top-ten defense.

Led by Draymond Green’s leadership, Golden State can succeed on that end of the court, but they may need more help in their frontcourt as rookie Wiseman has one of the worst defensive ratings on the team.

Combine a potentially lethal offense and a competent defense, and you have a team that may not make waves in the postseason but will be a tough out in the first or second round.