The Golden State Warriors are getting hot at the right time and should enter the play-in tournament as the No. 8 seed, giving off similar vibes as the “We Believe” Warriors that defeated the No. 1 seeded Dallas Mavericks back in 2007.
Don’t tell Draymond Green that though because he’s not buying the similarities between the two teams. He’s not wrong either as Golden State won’t be written off although, if they make the playoffs, they’ll be destined to take on either the Phoenix Suns or Utah Jazz.
Having taken down the top two Western Conference teams in consecutive nights, the Golden State Warriors are giving some fans major deja vu.
The “We Believe” Warriors won nine of their last ten games, sneaking into the playoffs as the No. 8 seed.
This season’s Warriors are on a streak that is similar after dipping into sub-.500 territory earlier on in the year. The team from the mid-2000s also defeated the top-seeded Mavericks by 29 in the second to last game of the regular season.
While the Warriors didn’t destroy the Jazz or Suns, they still took down teams that ranked similarly. That’s where the similarities come into play, but Green has one reason why the teams aren’t in the same situation.
“We ain’t no We Believe 2.0. We got three championships,” Green said according to The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson. “We ain’t no We Believe 2.0. We got f—— Stephen Curry,” he continued with according to CBS Sports.
However, to truly get to the level of that team, one that was led by Jason Richardson, Monta Ellis, and Baron Davis, the current Warriors need to take down a top-seeded opponent in the playoffs after defeating the Lakers in the play-in tournament (assuming they get the coveted 8th spot).
The Warriors of 2007 shocked the world and defeated the Mavs in six games. They then lost to the Utah Jazz in five.
That said, it’s understandable to get where Green is coming from. Having clinched a spot in the play-in tournament, a team with Stephen Curry is never going to be as underdogs as the ’07 Warriors.
Curry should end as the league’s scoring leader. He does everything on the court, and Green understands just how good the two-time MVP has been. That’s why he doesn’t feel there are any similarities.
He’d likely expect Golden State to beat the Jazz if they made the playoffs in the 8th spot.