Golden State Warriors: Should the Dubs be the favorites to win the West?

The Golden State Warriors sent a strong message on national television against the Brooklyn Nets. 

If their 11-2 start to the season was indication enough, perhaps their 18-point blowout win on national television against the East-best Brooklyn Nets should accomplish the job. The Golden State Warriors are for real and may very well be the best team in basketball.

And that’s without James Wiseman or Klay Thompson.

The Warriors sit a league-best 12-2 through the first month of the season as Stephen Curry is making another strong case as the NBA’s best player. He’s well on his way to being in the conversation to win another NBA MVP award and the Warriors seem to be strong candidates to win the Western Conference.

This was not a popular conversation that was happening before the season. Some believed that the Warriors had a chance to be a dark horse contender, but I don’t think anyone envisioned this year’s Warriors to echo what we saw from them during the 2016-17 season.

Nevertheless, through the first month of the season, the Warriors have the third-best offense, top-ranked defense, and have a 13.1 net rating.

It’s not that the Warriors are just winning games, but they’re throttling opponents. Golden State’s last eight wins have all come by double-digits and their only two losses have been by a combined seven points.

You can say that the Warriors have had a soft schedule to open the season, but they’ve been tested in their last two games – against the Chicago Bulls and Nets. And they won both of those games by 26 points and 18 points, respectively.

The Warriors have had an easy schedule to open the season but they’re 5-1 against projected playoff teams, with their only loss coming at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies in overtime.

As the Warriors continue to get healthy, they’re only going to get better, scarier, and more dangerous. Curry is on pace for the second-best statistical season of his career thus far, Andrew Wiggins has been truly consistent now that he has his legs under him with the Warriors, and Jordan Poole has become a key cog for this team as he’s filled in for Thompson.

If Thompson and Wiseman can return and have any type of impact on this team, there’s no question that the Warriors have sustainability power atop the Western Conference.

Even if they don’t continue on this win pace for the remainder of the season – it would be highly unfair to expect that – the Warriors have the talent and experience to emerge as a true championship contender this season.

Just a few weeks ago, I’m not sure if many would expect to have the Warriors on their shortlist of teams that could win a championship this season. Though, you’d be foolish not to believe in this team now.