AROUND the NBA: Pat Bev Suspended 4 Games Next Season| PHX Fires Vogel

[omahen]

Warriors have a lot of work to even make the playoffs and may come up short, but if they get in they are scary.  You know they are probably going to win one road game.    They have been through the battles too, so a less experienced playoff team could feel the pressure.

Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine)
The Warriors are 15-3 in their last 18 road games and pretty much guaranteed a Western Conference Play-In berth with tonight's win at Houston ... after going 11-30 on the road last season.

First rounds of the past were usually pretty clear walk-overs by the higher seeds, other than perhaps 4-5 match-ups and some surprises here and there. But league is so full of talent now, no one can feel really safe. Aging stars and super teams (Suns, LA, GSW, Miami,...) are battling through regular season, but are totally capable of showing teeth against every opponent, especially early in the play-offs. 

It will be very interesting to see what all-in teams like Suns or Clippers will do if they fail badly. Teams like Lakers and Miami have flexibility and assets to do something in the summer. Even GSW has it. But Suns and Clippers have extremely little flexibility to build around their core. 

Btw. What are the odds on Draymond ending in Dallas? Cuban and him seem to be huge buddies on his podcast.