The Golden State Warriors are currently third in the West, and if the regular season ends now, they will play against the Denver Nuggets in the first round, which is arguably the situation the Warriors want to see the most, and the Dallas Lone Rangers led by Luka Doncic may also be the Warriors' ideal opponent in the first round. But the problem is that the Warriors' current third place in the West is not safe, they have been losing recently, and the number one star Stephen Curry is also out of the game due to injury, once they slip to the fourth place in the West, they will meet the Utah Jazz in the first round, and they may be the first-round opponents the Warriors want to meet.
Although the Nuggets are not good opponents like the Lone Rangers, the Warriors may have a much less difficult time dealing with them than the Jazz. The Jazz are currently in fourth place in the West, but with only a 5.5-win difference between the teams ranked No. 3 and 7 in the West, the likelihood of a change in the West's rankings is high as the season draws to a close.
Due to the extreme disadvantage of the height and weight of the interior line and the requirements of their own playing style, the Warriors have long relied on small lineups, and in terms of their lineup configuration this season, the Warriors' small lineup will definitely have players such as Andre Iguodala, Otto Porter Jr. and Jonathan Cumminga, these three players will definitely be on top of the No. 4 position or even the No. 5 position, although their height and weight are still at a disadvantage against the Nuggets and the Lone Ranger, but the gap is not as big as that of the Jazz. Their rebounds are bound to explode, and even if starting center Kevin Looney is on the court, the Warriors still have a hard time guaranteeing their rebounds because he is only 2.08 meters tall.
The Jazz have two centers over 2.13 meters tall, and both centers play important roles in their rotations, with starting center Rudy Gobert being one of the NBA's best basket protectors, and when he comes off the bench, Hassan Whiteside can come off the bench and seamlessly fill his spot.
While the Jazz haven't played their best this season, they still top the league offensively, ranking fifth in the league in offensive rebounding and seventh in the league in defensive rebounding. From here, we can see that the Jazz are a team with extremely sharp offense and strong rebounds, and the Biggest problem of the Warriors is that they can't guarantee their rebounds, and the Jazz's average of second points per game is 5th in the league. In contrast, the Warriors put their opponents in the league in 10th place in second scoring per game, so against most teams, they can do a good job of limiting their opponents' ability to rush offensive rebounds, but it is not so easy against the Jazz, and this season's Warriors and Jazz have averaged 14.3 offensive rebounds per game.
Ostensibly, the Warriors have a 2-1 record in three games against the Jazz this season, but now the Jazz have brought back healthy Donovan Mitchell, and the Jazz's elite outside defender Reus O'Neal will also make the two-time regular season MVP Curry play hard. Therefore, when it comes to the opponents in the first round, Xiaobian feels that the Warriors must want to meet the Nuggets or the Lone Ranger more, what do you think?