Another round with the KING
The drama of these playoffs is behind us. The Golden State Warriors have cemented themselves as a dynasty with a heroic, mentally-tough, come-from-behind Memorial Day win.
Just this week, Zach Lowe on his Lowe Post podcast talked with The Athletic's Marcus Thompson and noted that if the Warriors did not win Game 7, it would be a huge disappointment and probably would lead to the team dropping out of the running for dynastic-distinction, in the pantheon with the Celtics, Bulls, and Lakers teams of decades past. [For the record, Lowe predicted they would win if CP3 didn't play]. that the Warriors were close to becoming a dynasty akin to the Showtime Lakers because of their high-powered offense, solid defense and star power. But we didn't know if this trajectory was going to play out as everyone hoped/feared. With the come-from-behind win, (which probably would not have happened had Chris Paul not cemented his own legacy as a player whose body cannot hold up in the playoffs) the Warriors cemented their legacy -- because they will certainly win the Finals for their third ring in 4 years.
The only thing that stands in their way is Lebron James - the King. And the biggest issue for the Warriors going forward to finish out the season is that their Lebron-stopper, Andre Iguodala, is not looking like he can get back into game shape. There are now reports that he is getting 2nd opinions on his knee. Iggy is slow to recover and I don't see him coming back before Game 3, if at all. So what will the warriors do to keep Lebron from getting 45/15/15 and keeping them in every game through sheer willpower (like he did against Indiana and Boston)?
In reality, this isn't a huge deal because the 4 Hall of Famers on the Warriors are obviously greater than the sum of Lebron. But someone will have to guard him. And I believe that Jordan Bell is ready for prime-time. He showed he can stay out on the court against the Rockets, who are far better than the Cavs. And he showed that he has flashes of pizzazz in the big moments, with the Zaza-lite through-the-legs passes to really get Steph lit beyond the 3-point line. If Bell can get a couple dunks, a handful of rebounds, and stay in front of Lebron enough to allow time for help on the weakside (or even just force him into a fadeaway) then I think the Warriors have the starting 5 that will win them the championship NEXT YEAR.
At the start of the season, Anthony Slater and other Warriors journalists noted that Jordan Bell will be the future center for the Warriors in 2018-2019. In game 6 and 7 against the Rockets he showed that he could be their starting center now. He doesn't need to score, he just can't get run off the court on defense and facilitate on offense. With Iguodala out, the Warriors may have stumbled into their future.