Let's for a second pretend that the Golden State Warriors make the finals (it looks like they will) and that Kevin Durant, who is currently battling a calf strain, is unavailable. Will the Warriors be able to beat their Eastern Conference opponent?
Charles Barkley says not a chance:
"Anybody who thinks they're going to win the world championship without Kevin Durant don't know anything about basketball."
—Charles Barkley on the Warriors pic.twitter.com/gZEtbdRjzW
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) May 17, 2019
Barkley says that he doesn't even think the Western Conference Finals are over, as the Warriors had to rally from a 15-point halftime deficit to take a 2-0 lead over the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night and will now head to Portland for Games 3 and 4.
He then said that the Warriors are simply not going to be able to beat the Milwaukee Bucks (even though the Eastern Conference Finals are far from over themselves) without Durant.
Well, a few things here.
First of all, while the Blazers have been terrific in these playoffs, they are now going to have to win four out of five in order to beat the Dubs, which does not seem very likely, Durant or no Durant.
Second, the Bucks are only up 1-0 on the Toronto Raptors, so that series is still very much up in the air even though Milwaukee is the favorite.
Finally, Barkley kind of does have a point that if Durant is unavailable for the finals, Golden State may very well struggle. Keep in mind that without Durant, there are a whole lot of question marks surrounding this group. Yes, the Warriors did win the title in 2015, but Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love had to get injured for that to happen. Golden State then lost to Cleveland the following year.
So, while essentially saying that that Dubs have no chance is definitely going too far, there are definitely some concerns.
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