As the Golden State Warriors prepare for their play-off match Wednesday against the Los Angeles Lakers, they do so by enjoying the role of victims they have been unable to adopt since. Stephen Curry s Diamond Green They won their first NBA Championship during the 2014-15 season.

After years of reaching the playoffs as the title favorites, the eighth-placed Warriors in the West are not expected to do much as the potential post-season tour begins on Wednesday against LeBron James And defending heroes.

“I hope everyone hears the talk,” said Curry after training on Tuesday. “Even at this point, how would we pair up with Los Angeles or the Phoenix Suns or the Utah Jazz if we went through this game and all that. Nobody thought we’d be in that position. Not many people believed, they put us down the rankings after Clay?” [Thompson] He got hurt, so there are a lot of things that we’ve already changed up to this point so it’s better to move on. “

Veteran coach Steve Kerr wants his team to enjoy and appreciate the growth they have achieved this season as the group prepares for what they hope will be longer in the post-season period than many are expecting.

“It’s a completely different season and that’s why you’re celebrating a small win in a season like this,” said Kerr. “And I think that’s really healthy. When you go through five years in a row of“ winning the championship or dropping, ”it’s incredibly stressful. It’s exciting and you wouldn’t want it any other way, but he adds. And so I think the year has been refreshing. In many ways, it was a really important season for our franchise in many ways and that is important.

Green echoed the sentiments, recently saying that after years of “chasing”, the Warriors are enjoying being “hunters” again when they enter Wednesday’s game playing the best basketball of their season, having won 15 of the last 20 sets. While analyzing the ways Kerr has made his players appear this season, he noted that even after all the accolades that Curry and Green have won, he thinks this latest installment might be the best of both worlds.

“For me, Draymond plays as well as ever,” said Kerr. “So is Steve. Andrew Wiggins He found a big role in this team and played at a high level … it’s all great. It is very healthy for our organization. And within that, you celebrate these victories, you celebrate successes, because you are not in a situation where everyone loses and says “your season was a failure”. He brings a different point of view and I think our players are enjoying the season a little. “

Curry definitely enjoyed the regular season after he missed all but five matches during the 2020-21 season due to a broken hand. He returned to winning the scoring title with an average of 32 points per match and back into the MVP Conversation. After averaging 37.3 points per game in April and then helping the Warriors reach eighth place, Curry produced a lot of MVP talk from players from across the league, including James.

“I’m clearly grateful,” said Carey. “He knows that when he says something, people pay attention to him, so for him, to talk about my MVP nomination for sure, I respect him for that, I appreciate him, and we all know as competitors, however, when the lights are on, I can talk about how awesome he is even “I feel sad and he can do the same, he does not change the way we deal with this competition when we come out. I will not give him a pass because he loves the way I played. This year and vice versa.”

As has been the case many times over the years, if Warriors wanted to get to where they want to go, they would have to go through James to do so, at least to get the seventh seed on Wednesday. It’s a challenge for which Kerr and his team seem ready.

“We’ve probably played with LeBron 40 times in the past six or seven years, maybe more,” Kerr said. “LeBron is always a brilliant player in every aspect and that includes his defense. The last time we were here, he stole two or three times early in the match in some of our favorite plays, kind of slips, so we have to do well the task of executing and realizing your place and making sure.” We are making good decisions. “