With so much uncertainty looming over the Western Conference playoff race, one thing is for sure: the Warriors are playing their best basketball at the right time.
After falling one game under .500 as the No. 10 seed in early February, the Warriors are 22-7 since their massive trade deadline acquisition Jimmy Butler suited up for them on Feb. 8 and have leaped the standings with a real possibility of locking up a top-six playoff seed.
While the red-hot Warriors have been rolling, teams above them in the standings, such as the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers, have been finding a groove, too, with two regular-season games remaining. Still, ESPN analyst David Dennis Jr. views Golden State as the most dangerous team in the West entering the playoffs.
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SIGN UP HERE "To me, it's still the Golden State Warriors," Dennis Jr. said Friday morning on "First Take." "You have three guys on that roster -- three veterans on that roster -- who as well as they are playing right now, they are only going to get better come playoff time. We've seen what Steph Curry does in these playoff-level scenarios. Those three games in a row, against Memphis, against the Lakers, against the Nuggets, where he averaged 43 points.
"You add in the fact that Playoff Jimmy Butler is on the horizon. He allows that Warriors team to be a plus team when Stephen Curry is not playing. And that is a huge, huge marker for this team and their success. Then you add in the Draymond Green of it all, playing at the Defensive Player of the Year level he is right now.
"This Warriors team is equipped to win in the way that they have won, which is Draymond anchoring that defense, some depth and Stephen Curry going nuclear. I think they are still the most dangerous team that nobody wants to face in that Western Conference."
Since taking a week off to rest and recover from a pelvic contusion, Curry is averaging 27.4 points on 45.6-percent shooting from the field and 40.2 percent from 3-point range, with 5.1 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.8 steals in 32.4 minutes through eight games.
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Last week, he dropped 52 points against the Grizzlies then backed up that performance with 37 and 36 points, respectively, in back-to-back games against the Lakers and Nuggets.
And he's gotten plenty of support from his veteran counterparts.
Butler's impact alone seemingly has made everyone around him better -- particularly unlocking new doors and opportunities for Curry's game in Year 16. Plus, his numbers only boost come playoff time. And Draymond Green has been doing Draymond Green things, strengthening his case for his second Defensive Player of the Year award.
Dennis Jr. believes those three, collectively, can lead the Warriors to the Western Conference finals.
"In terms of how far they can go in the playoffs," Dennis Jr. said, "if they're on the opposite bracket of the [Oklahoma City] Thunder and you're looking at them as the sixth seed playing the Lakers first then playing an inexperienced [Houston] Rockets team that struggles down the stretch in those fourth quarters -- yes, the Warriors, lock it in, are a Western Conference Finals team. And then when you play against OKC, anything is possible against that Thunder team.
"We've seen the Warriors beat [the Thunder] already this season without Jimmy Butler. The Warriors have a unique thing that nobody else in the playoffs has: they have three players that get better come playoff time. Nobody else in the NBA has that. They have Playoff Jimmy. They have MVP Steph. And they have defensive enforcer Draymond Green on that team. I trust them, on the opposite side of the bracket, to lock in if they're the sixth seed to the Western Conference finals."
That certainly is the goal for the Warriors, and the road to get there continues Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center.