The Golden State Warriors are an average team. At this point in the season, no one can dispute that statement. They are slightly above .500 on the year, but no one could seriously argue this team is where it wants to be nearly halfway through the season.
For a while, the Warriors tried to act like they still had time to turn things around and achieve their goal of being one of the top four teams in the Western Conference, but that pretence was dropped last week in two key games.
Warriors know that they are an average team and are acting like it
Last Friday, the Warriors had the Oklahoma City Thunder coming into town. They decided to sit their three best players. Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler both did not play, ostensibly due to injury. Draymond Green was simply given the night off to rest.
Unsurprisingly, the Warriors got walloped by the Thunder with few bright spots in a fairly ugly game. However, all three played the following night against the Utah Jazz, proving the injuries to Curry and Butler certainly weren't significant ones.
The Warriors knew they had a better shot at beating the Jazz rather than the Thunder. Oklahoma City is the best team in the league and the Warriors would have had a tough time beating them even with Curry, Butler and Green on the floor.
That is why head coach Steve Kerr made a logical decision to, as some put it, essentially tank the game so his stars would be ready to go on Saturday night against the Jazz.
Golden State did end up defeating the Jazz thanks in large part to a third-quarter explosion from Curry, but it's hard to imagine the stacked Warriors teams of the past sitting the star players against a big opponent like the Thunder.
Kerr and the Warriors know this is a different version of the team. They are an aging, veteran team who need rest over the course of the season. Golden State will be hoping they can go the rest of the way, reach the playoffs and hope for some good fortune.
Right now the Warriors are the eighth seed in the West and would be in the Play-In if the season ended today. They are a few games back of the Minnesota Timberwolves for the sixth-seed which should be seen as somewhat of an attainable goal to ensure they do get a first-round matchup.
Still, it's looking more and more like this team is destined for the Play-In yet again. The Warriors were hoping to avoid this fate, but it seems even they are acknowledging that is their most likely path this season.