Don’t Even Think About Writing off the Golden State Warriors Yet

OAKLAND—Even without Stephen Curry, the Golden State Warriors aren’t done—thanks partly to the increasingly fickle injury luck knocking down Western Conference stars left and right, but mostly to their fervent belief in themselves.

“Our confidence level with Steph is through the roof,” Draymond Green said Tuesday. “Without Steph, it’s still at the roof.”

The Warriors face the Houston Rockets in a potentially (let’s be serious: almost certainly) decisive Game 5 Wednesday. And even if they won’t admit they’re looking ahead, they have to be. Mostly because the Los Angeles Clippers announced Chris Paul and Blake Griffin will be out indefinitely and for the duration of the playoffs, respectively, which forces the view forward.

Paul and Griffin’s injuries put the Los Angeles Clippers’ first-round survival against the Portland Trail Blazers in serious doubt. And suddenly, improbably, miraculously, the Warriors’ path to the conference finals looks nearly as smooth as it did before Curry went down with a sprained MCL. The real danger lurks in that penultimate stage—in the form of either the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs—but Curry might well be back by then.

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And there is very little that seems dangerous to the Warriors when their best player is healthy.

Now, so soon after their foundation was shaken by one fateful mid-court slip, the Warriors are a steadied outfit—assured they can succeed until Curry returns.

They intend to do it collectively, without stretching individual skills beyond comfort zones.

This is a realistic approach.

Per Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com:

Even without Curry, the Warriors would be strong favorites over the Blazers. I estimate a 77 percent chance Golden State would beat Portland if Curry does not play at all, which improves to 87 percent if Curry is able to return after Game 4 — when the timetable Golden State released would have Curry reevaluated in two weeks.

A Warriors-Clippers matchup is much more difficult to project because of all the injuries on both sides, but if Paul is unable to return for the postseason, the Clippers look like less formidable opponents than the Blazers, particularly with Griffin out and fellow starter J.J. Redick dealing with a painful heel contusion.

Based on the way the Warriors distributed Green and Klay Thompson’s minutes in Games 2 and …

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