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Warriors-Cavaliers as NBA Finals preview? Don't rush it

Adi Joseph
USA TODAY Sports
Warriors guard Stephen Curry pounds his chest during a Jan. 9 victory vs. the Cavs.

The No. 1 team in the NBA may not be the best team on the court Thursday night. Not that the Golden State Warriors are worried.

They visit the Cleveland Cavaliers for an 8 p.m. ET showcase game on TNT, where the story line is simple: The Cavs (36-22) are the hottest team around, and the Warriors (44-10) have been the story of the season. What happens when the unstoppable force of LeBron James hits the immovable object of the Warriors' flexible, team-oriented system?

Perhaps an NBA Finals preview, and a compelling (and ratings-heavy) one at that. But let's not be too quick.

The Warriors are candid about what lies ahead, the daunting task that will be the Western Conference playoffs. Thanks to a glut of injuries, the West standings have become a mess. The Warriors would face the No. 8 seed Oklahoma City Thunder, winners of seven in a row, if the regular season ended today. And the seventh-place San Antonio Spurs might be their only other option.

"We're not about trying to manipulate the results of our games to try to find somebody to play in the first round," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "There aren't any good options. We just want to be as good as we can be, and be healthy and playing well at the end of the season."

The Eastern Conference, though, is a different story. And at the moment, the path looks simple for the Cavs.

Cleveland, which spent most of the first half of the season drifting between fifth and sixth place in the East, has risen to third with its 17-3 run since mid-January. And other than the No. 1 Atlanta Hawks, who certainly can hold their own and have beaten the Cavs in their past two matchups, no one seems prepared to get in their way.

The second-place Toronto Raptors are in a three-game skid and may well get passed by the end of the week. The Chicago Bulls, tied with the Cavs in third, are without Derrick Rose and an offensive identity. And the Washington Wizards, who were second in the conference when the Cavs' run began, are down to fifth and in danger of slipping further because of a 2-10 record in the past 12 games.

"It is what it is," Warriors center Andrew Bogut told USA TODAY Sports about the conference disparity. "Hopefully the NBA will figure something out, but the West right now is brutal. It's going to be like three heavyweight battles just to get to the Finals, and in the East you might sneak one seven-game series. It's going to be brutal to get to the Finals in the West."

Still, Thursday's game should serve as a good measuring stick for both teams. The Warriors are 8-2 in their road-heavy past 10 games and will use this test, along with Friday's at the Raptors, as a heat check entering the stretch run.

The Cavs, meanwhile, are out to prove they are title contenders after all the early-season drama, and they'd like to make up for Jan. 9's 112-94 loss in Oakland.

"They had a lot of different issues," Bogut said. "They had a new coach they had to adjust to. LeBron missed almost a month. They made a bunch of trades. You knew once they figured it out, they were going to be doing what they're doing. So it's no surprise there, especially in the East."

Continuity is crucial in starting a season strong, but by April, everyone will know their role on all of the contending teams. The Warriors have stayed pat with their roster, aside from a few injuries healing, which helped them gain an edge even while bringing in a new coaching staff led by Kerr.

"They've done a great job not really changing too much," All-Star guard Klay Thompson said of the coaches. "They added a few new things on the offensive end. They didn't really change the defense. Just trusting us, they knew they'd come into a great situation. All of us fit great in the system."

The Warriors and second-place Memphis Grizzlies took advantage of their continuity and other teams' struggles with it to jump to the top of the West standings early, and they never let go.

But the Thunder are coming. The Spurs are the Spurs, finally getting healthy even despite a four-game losing streak. The third-pace Houston Rockets could have Dwight Howard back, and the sixth-place Los Angeles Clippers should return Blake Griffin. The Portland Trail Blazers are working recently acquired Arron Afflalo into a super-sixth man role. And the Dallas Mavericks are working Amar'e Stoudemire on to their bench to provide interior punch.

The West, in other words, is far from settled.

"The records may not mean a whole lot at the end of the year," Kerr said. "You're just going to have eight great teams, and four of them are going to be out in the first round. That's the way it goes."

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