1 advantage the Warriors have over each Pacific Division team
The Pacific Division may be the toughest group in the NBA, with five legit contenders. But the Warriors have at least one meaningful advantage over each opponent.
By Ian Levy
The Denver Nuggets may be the defending champion and the Boston Celtics might be the preseason Vegas favorite for the 2023-24 season but the Pacific Division is STRONG. All five teams — the Clippers, Warriors, Lakers, Kings and Suns are legitimate contenders. Convert Vegas odds into implied probabilities and they're projecting a roughly 35 percent chance of one of the Pacific teams winning it all.
The Lakers and Suns may be getting most of the preseason headlines and attention but the Warriors have everything they need to win a second title in three years and their fifth in the past decade.
They have their core, have smoothed last season's friction from Draymond Green's unresolved contract status and his beef with Jordan Poole. They added Chris Paul, and several other bits of key depth. And, if you line them up against each of their competitors in the Pacific, you can find at least one specific and potentially decisive advantage.
1 advantage the Warriors have over the Clippers: Health
The Warriors have had plenty of injury woes over the past few years. Steph Curry missed essentially all of the 2019-20 season. Ditto for Klay Thompson, and the 2020-21 season as well. Between them, they missed 39 games last season and Draymond Green missed another nine. But those absences pale in comparison to what the Clippers have dealt with.
In the four seasons since the Clippers acquired Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, their two stars have missed a combined 266 games. Across the regular season and playoffs, they've played just 3,661 minutes together. The Clippers have been exceptionally good when both players are healthy, a two-way force that absolutely looks the part of a contender. They just haven't had them on the court enough to turn that into a deep playoff run.
On paper, the Clippers present a unique challenge for the Warriors with their two-way depth and star power. In practicality, the Warriors can probably count on rarely having to face them at full strength.