Mark WiedmerMaybe this Stephen Curry cat has been holding back the Golden State Warriors.
OK, so I kid. I think.
But over the past three games Curry has been out for all or part of because of a sprained right knee, the Warriors are 3-0, including Sunday's 118-106 home win over Portland in the opening game of their Western Conference semifinal series.
This doesn't mean that Curry's return - which he believes will happen in Game 3 on Saturday night in Portland - wouldn't possibly help the defending NBA champions. It's just that, well, Golden State has won those three games by an average of 24 points. And Sunday's game wasn't as close as the final score, with the Warriors leading by 18 most of the second half.
All of which brings us to a far bigger point: Could we puh-leeze get to the real NBA title series, whether the league will recognize the expected Western Conference final between Golden State and San Antonio as such?
Because as good as Golden State looked amassing a record-setting 73 wins in the regular season (including taking three of four from the Spurs and handing San Antonio its only home loss of the season to pretty much wrap up that record), the Spurs arguably have looked stronger and deeper thus far in the playoffs.
In fact, the most jaw-dropping performance of the postseason to date was the absolute beatdown the Alamo Gang put on Oklahoma City on Saturday night. In case you missed it, the Spurs led 43-20 after one quarter and 73-40 at halftime on their way to a 124-92 win.
To his credit, first-year Thunder coach and former University of Florida boss Billy Donovan didn't sound ready to call it a season.
"I don't think watching from the sidelines - I'll watch the tape tonight - I'm sitting there saying, 'We can't solve any of these things,'" he said Saturday. "Some of this stuff was self-induced on us."
But while this is all new to Donovan, these playoff mismatches between the Spurs and Thunder in San Antonio have been fairly common. In their past five home postseason games against Oklahoma City, the Spurs' average margin of victory was 25.1 points.
As for Golden State, while Portland certainly played better in the final quarter Sunday, it's hard to see the Trail Blazers winning four times against this deep, polished, focused team.
And though few might have touted it before these playoffs, Golden State is far more than Stephen Curry. In fact, one could argue the glue that holds the Warriors isn't Curry, however great his talent, but rather Draymond Green. He recorded the second-most triple-doubles in the NBA this season (13 to Thunder guard Russell Westbrook's 18) and on Sunday finished with his second career postseason triple-double.
"Everything has to be racheted up," Green, who had 23 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists against Portland, said after the game. "I just told the guys that we've got to come out with a defensive mindset."
Defense figures to be in abundance when Atlanta travels to Cleveland tonight to begin their Eastern Conference semifinal series. The Hawks held off the Boston Celtics in the opening round while the Cavaliers swept Detroit, and both Atlanta and Cleveland's defenses looked solid.
Maybe Atlanta can steal a game or two from the LeBron James Gang and maybe not, but it's tough to see anyone else in the East playing the Cavs better than the Hawks, though Miami certainly looked like a contender in its Game 7 rout of Charlotte on Sunday. Much of the Heat's defensive production is coming from Tennessee rookie Josh Richardson, who's proving to be the steal of the 2015 draft, seeing as how he wasn't picked until the second round.
Of course, there's always hope of a quick reversal of fortune after a Game 1 rout. As TNT's Charles Barkley astutely pointed out after the Spurs silenced the Thunder on Saturday, Larry Bird's Celtics crushed Magic Johnson's Lakers 148-114 in the opening game of the 1985 NBA Finals inside Boston Garden, a game often referred to as the Memorial Day Massacre.
Yet the Lakers won the next game inside the Garden, then returned there to win the series in six games. Until they've lost a home playoff game, anything is possible for Oklahoma City, Portland and whoever becomes the beast of the East.
That said, it's hard to imagine anyone but Cleveland emerging from the East. Assuming Curry returns and no other Golden State player gets hurt, it's even harder to imagine anyone but the Warriors or Spurs facing James' Cavs in the NBA Finals.
But it's the Spurs and Warriors we all want to watch. It's the Spurs and Warriors - the best organization of the past 15 years taking on the most fun team to watch of almost any year - that the NBA needs.
"They are an elite team (with or without Curry), and they showed that tonight," Portland's Damian Lillard said after Sunday's loss.
The Spurs and Warriors have both looked like elite teams all season. Unfortunately, only one of them will reach the NBA Finals.
But at least for now, it looks like we're all but certain to see them play each other for a spot in the championship series, and that's reason enough for all of basketball to celebrate, regardless of which elite team ultimately prevails.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.