Earl Watson just made a very bold claim.
The former Phoenix Suns head coach joined Colin Cowherd on his show this week and offered up his thoughts about the Warriors-Spurs first round series in the NBA playoffs.
Surprisingly, Watson is siding with the Spurs in this one and it seems to mostly have to do with the absence of Stephen Curry for the Warriors.
“I don't think they get out of the first round. I think Spurs do what the Spurs do and that's win the first round, convincingly, maybe 6 or 7 games if they win it convincingly. Think about the game of basketball. Steph Curry creates pace. No Steph, no pace. KD's gonna bring the ball up a lot which means he's going to go at his own pace. The last time I seen a 7-footer cannot create pace the way a natural point guard does. So which tells me it's going to be halfcourt basketball. We all know that if you put the Spurs in halfcourt basketball, they're going to execute you to the 10th option, LaMarcus Aldridge is going to dominate the series. Then it's going to be possession-by-possession down the stretch and Pop has thing everything that there is to control in games.”
Watson makes some points that there is some truth too. Yes, the Warriors are a different team without Curry. Yes, the Spurs can be a great team in the halfcourt. Yes, Gregg Popovich is one of the most experienced and accomplished coaches in the NBA.
But let's not underrate the Warriors.
Even without Curry, there are still three All-Stars on the Warriors roster and it's not like the Spurs will be at full strength either as Kawhi Leonard is expected to miss possibly the entire series.
This will not be the same dominant Warriors and the series could be closer and go six or seven games, but there's a reason why the Warriors are heavy favorites.
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