As the Golden State Warriors enter their defined two-year championship window with their veteran trio of Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green, the pressure is on more than ever for the team to compete in a loaded Western Conference.
Yet, in order to reach their lofty goal, the team must stay focused on the task at hand as the season wears on: securing a comfortable playoff seeding.
While, with the regular season success the team found last season after their acquisition of Butler, it could be tempting to have lofty expectations of a first or second seed for Golden State, they must simply avoid the play-in in order to have a genuine shot at another title.