5 reasons the Golden State Warriors can win the 2017 NBA Championship

January 16, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) and forward Kevin Durant (35) celebrate during the second quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 126-91. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

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Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

1. The Warriors have plenty of reasons to be motivated

It’s not surprising that the Warriors weren’t quite as sharp this regular season. In their first season under Kerr, they captured the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with a 67-15 record. They then won 73 games to set a new NBA record in the following season. They still finished this regular season with the best record in the NBA, but they didn’t seem as invincible at times when compared to previous seasons.

As Green explained on his podcast, it’s draining having to take every team’s best shot on a nightly basis, which can make the regular season repetitive. For a team like the Warriors — especially with the way last season ended — it’s hard not to focus entirely on the playoffs.

“For three years now, we’ve been taking every team’s best shot every night,” Green said. “That kind of starts to wear on you and it’s just the regular season. You start to take all those things into account, knowing obviously we’ve reached the mountaintop, we’ve gotten right there to the top and couldn’t get over the hump. We’ve seen it all, and here we are — game 60-whatever in the regular season — and you’re trying to get to that intensity level and you just can’t get there. There becomes a time when it gets a little repetitive.”

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That’s why we probably haven’t seen the best version of this Warriors yet. It helps that they have Durant, who is the one player in their core who has yet to win an NBA title. His motivation to join the Warriors was to get back to the NBA Finals, and this is a great opportunity for him to do so. It’s hard to believe he won’t seize the moment and elevate the play of everyone else if he gets there again.