Golden State Warriors are superior super team to Brooklyn

In the era of super teams, the Golden State Warriors collection of talent in 2017 was seen as game-breaking. Never before had the league seen this much star power on one team. In the aftermath of two straight championships, many NBA fans hoped that no other franchise would stack the deck like this again.

Then, James Harden forced his way to Brooklyn to join Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The comparisons between Brooklyn and the Dub were inevitable and it has hit full throttle now that the Nets have entered round two of the NBA Playoffs.

The New York Times dubbed proclaimed Brooklyn as “possibly” the greatest basketball team of all time. Meanwhile, Irving himself stated the Nets are uniting the whole world together for this championship run.

All this has me wondering, have we already forgotten the Warriors’ reign of terror?

Both the Nets and Golden State Warriors are great in their own ways, but Golden State had the more ‘super’ super team.

Draymond Green recently spoke on the difference between the Warriors and Nets.

"“These guys [The Brooklyn Nets] are more do it yourself, whereas those guys could do it themselves with Klay, Steph, and KD, but they lean on each other more, due to our system and ball movement…Whereas these guys it’s space, you attack, they come and help and now you kick it to the shooter, so I think it’s more of a different method.”Via Inside the NBA"

Different method or not, the Nets have had a scary amount of success considering how limited their time together was before starting the postseason. The trio of Harden, Irving and Durant played fewer than 10 games together while 15-of-17 Nets’ players had fewer than three seasons in Brooklyn. Not to mention, Steve Nash coaching for the first time in his career.

This many new faces trying to piece it all together on the fly is no easy feat. And, it should be commended that they nearly swept the Boston Celtics had it not been for a 50 point outburst from Jayson Tatum.

Even so, the Nets post some similar stats to the Warriors’ first run together in 2017.

Per Game averages for First Playoff Run

• Points – Warriors (119.3), Nets (123.4)
• Assists – Warriors (28.2), Nets (24.0)
• 3-Pointers Made – Warriors (12.7), Nets (14.4)
• Field Goal Percentage – Warriors (49.4), Nets (49.6)
• Net Rating – Warriors (12.9), Nets (12.1)

For what it is worth, the Warriors ranked first in most categories for their specific postseason. As for the Nets, they rank outside of the top-three in a few — suggesting that the current NBA Playoffs are simply playing at a higher pace, therefore explaining why the Nets are ahead of the Dubs in some aspects. Of course, it’s also worth noting the Dubs played 17 games while the Nets have played just five thus far, shifting the per-game numbers again in Brooklyn’s favor.

Still, it is important to keep in mind the difference between the Nets and Warriors heading into their first playoff run. The Dubs had the benefit of already being a championship-caliber team with loads of chemistry built amongst one another before adding Durant. In contrast, the Nets are simply learning as they go.

Nonetheless, the Nets have already lost the same amount of games in the 2021 NBA Playoffs as the Dubs did in their 2017 championship run. The bar is set incredibly high and the Nets probably won’t reach it by the end of this season.

In addition to being more cohesive, the Warriors were a stronger defensive team with more all-around depth. The Nets don’t have an Andre Iguodala or Shaun Livingston on their bench, and they sure as hell don’t have a defender like Draymond.

The Nets are an incredible, mind-bending basketball experiment with three of the greatest iso-scorers in this history of basketball all on the same team. In the event they all stay healthy, I’d assume the Nets are far from reaching their peak as a unit. Until then, however, the Warriors’ old dynasty remains at the top of the mountain.