The Golden State Warriors have had an up and down 2018-19 campaign, to say the least. They were so up and down, as a matter of fact, that some were even declaring that they were done winning titles in the midst of their struggles earlier in the season.

But in spite of the fact that they have been inconsistent, in spite of the fact that they have had injuries, in spite of the fact that they have sleepwalked their way through the year, the Warriors have notched the top seed in the Western Conference.

Golden State won't be winning 60 games this season. The Dubs are currently at 56 wins with two games remaining, meaning that, at best, the Warriors will tie their 58-win mark from a year ago.

But it doesn't matter.

The Warriors weren't even really trying to do so, but they still ended up with the No. 1 seed in the West, and now, their season is really about to start, as they are preparing to begin their quest to win their third straight NBA championship next week.

And you know what? Their road to the finals has never looked easier.

If the season ended today, the Warriors would play the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs. The Clippers have had a terrific second half and are a feisty team, but recently, they have been slipping, and let's be honest: the Clips are no match for the Dubs in a seven-game playoff series.

Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Stephen Curry, Warriors

Of course, Golden State could also end up facing the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round, but it's more likely that the Warriors will battle either the Clippers or the San Antonio Spurs, both of whom the Dubs should dispatch fairly easily.

As it stands, the Warriors would then face either the Portland Trail Blazers or the Utah Jazz in the second round of the postseason. The Blazers are without big man Jusuf Nurkic, who suffered a gruesome broken leg injury last month. Meanwhile, the Jazz, while solid, are no match for the firepower of Golden State.

That would likely set the Dubs up for a Western Conference Finals matchup against one of the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, or the Thunder. The Nuggets? The Warriors own them and should beat them in five games or less. The Rockets pushed the Dubs to seven games last spring, but that was a different Houston team. The Thunder? They have the talent on paper, but they don't seem to have the “it” factor, nor do they have the depth or perimeter shooting to beat the Warriors.

Really, has Golden State ever had an easier path to the finals?

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You can argue 2017, sure. But let's remember that the Warriors' conference finals matchup against the Spurs was not supposed to be that easy. If Kawhi Leonard doesn't get hurt in Game 1 (when San Antonio was up by 23 points, by the way), that probably ends up being a long series.

Back in 2016, the Warriors won a league-record 73 games, but they had to rally from a 3-1 deficit to beat Oklahoma City in the conference finals.

Then we can go back to 2015, where the Memphis Grizzlies actually took a 2-1 lead over Golden State in the second round before the Dubs rattled off three straight wins.

We love to talk about how great the West is, but the fact of the matter is that the Western Conference is not what it used to be. Sure, it's deep and has a lot of good teams, but it only really has one great team, and that team is the Warriors.

This is not like a few years ago when you had the Tim Duncan-led Spurs, the Kevin Durant-led Thunder, the Lob City Clippers, and the Grit-n-Grind Grizzlies. Now, we have a young Denver team that is clearly out of its element whenever it plays Golden State, a Houston club that relies far too heavily on one player, an Oklahoma City club with no consistency, and a plethora of other solid squads that simply are not title contenders.

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The fact that the Warriors were on cruise control mode throughout the entire regular season and still ended up with the No. 1 seed fairly easily (they are currently three games ahead of the Nuggets) further exemplifies the point that the West isn't that great anymore.

What's crazy is that Golden State coasted just to get to this point, and it can probably still coast through the playoffs on its way to the Finals.

The Dubs may very well not be seriously challenged until they have to play whomever comes out of the Eastern Conference. This is not like last year when you had a Rockets team that won 65 games in their way.

This time around, the Warriors are probably scoffing at the rest of their Western Conference foes, and the “are we there yet?” theme may very well persist until the Finals.

The East playoffs should be very interesting. There is a whole lot of intrigue and uncertainty there. But the West? The Warriors may as well just start watching film on Eastern Conference clubs.