Warriors can look back on own recent history in hopes of championship resurgence

The Golden State Warriors may be more familiar with the ultimate success of championship glory over the last decade, but they've also now experienced Play-In Tournament heartbreak in two of the past four seasons.

After a shaky start to last season, the Warriors found their groove over the final couple months. It did prove too little to late, with their momentum coming to an abrupt halt against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center.

With their end to 2023-24 similar to that of 2020-21, can the Golden State Warriors again propel momentum forward into the next season?

But while the season may have come to a disappointing end, there's still plenty Golden State could take with them. They finished with a 27-12 record over the final 39 games, ranked top 10 in both offense and defense during that period, and unearthed significant roles for the likes of Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis.

In a recent interview with the Daily Journal, Jackson-Davis pointed specifically to the strong end to the regular season and the opportunity to build upon that momentum.

“We just need to continue to do what we did at the end of the season. We have the pieces, but we just have to stay healthy and we have to just continue to build and grow," Jackson-Davis said.

If the Warriors want to look at any recent inspiration of how form can translate from one season to the next, they only have to look towards their own conclusion to the 2020-21 season. Golden State finished 15-5 over the final 20 games and unleashed a more prominent role for Jordan Poole, only to lose back-to-back Play-In Tournament games against the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies.

The Warriors still ran with that momentum though, starting the following season 18-2 to emerge as one of the championship favorites. Their last half off that regular season was average, but the seed had already been placed to bloom into a triumphant playoff run.

This roster managing a similar feat would be more of a surprise, yet it shouldn't be forgotten that the 2021-22 roster entered with an over-under win line of 48.5 -- just a couple more than the 46 wins Golden State managed last season.

It will be a tough task for the Warriors to replicate the same success of 2021-22, but at least they have a recent understanding of how to engineer momentum through an offseason and into the following campaign.