Nevius: Warriors looking like the team that surprised us 7 years ago

When Kevin Durant made his escape to New York, a lot of people thought it was the end of the Warriors’ dynasty.

I may have been one of them.

Durant was a perfect fit for the Dubs. He was (and is) moody and thin-skinned, but nobody doubts that he is one of the three top players in the world.

With him the Warriors still ran their familiar free-flow offense. But when the shot clock clicked down to single digits, they could toss it to Durant and he could create.

Nobody has to make the case for what Durant meant to Golden State. Back-to-back championships in 2017-2018 and consecutive NBA Finals MVP awards make it for him.

With him gone, it was hard to imagine the Warriors’ run continuing. They had a nice surge, going to five straight Finals, but everyone knows playoff magic has a shelf life. It’s one thing to win for a while, but keeping it going is the hard part.

Last month I was at Oracle Park for the final Giants game of the National League Division Series. (And no, Wilmer Flores did not go around.) I happened to see Warriors GM Bob Myers in the stands before the game.

The Warriors were about five games into the preseason, so I asked how they looked.

“We’re going to be a lot better than we were last year,” he said.

They are.

It’s easy to sleep on the Dubs after two poor seasons, but this is turning into one of those SF Giants vibes. The locals had the best record in baseball for most of the season, but at first no one was really buying it.

Giants attendance was frustratingly low until the playoffs loomed. Now the Warriors are having the same issue.

But the fans will catch on. Because right now Golden State is not only riding the best record in basketball, it is running people out of the building.

The much-hyped KD vs. Steph game in Brooklyn turned into a snooze when the Warriors dropped the hammer — as they often do — in the third quarter. They outscored the Nets, the Eastern Conference favorites, 35-18 in that quarter.

Two nights later, in Cleveland, Curry erased a 14-point deficit with a 20-point fourth quarter, turning a close game into a laugher. The Warriors outscored the Cavs 36-8 in the final period.

It is a callback to 2015, the first championship under Steve Kerr. That team — without Durant — had budding stars Curry and Klay Thompson, and that whirling offensive system.

But often overlooked is that the 2015 team had a great bench, like Shaun Livingston, Ian Clark and Leandro Barbosa. In fact, the signature move of the 2015 Finals was taking Andre Iguodala out of the second unit and giving him a start.

That was a team with depth.

So’s this one. There’s a reason they usually win third quarters. Their subs are better. They have more good players.

Against Brooklyn, Kerr played all 13 players in the first half. In those two quarters the bench was plus-27.

Most of us have probably been pleasantly surprised by Nemanja Bjelica and Otto Porter Jr., who are crafty veterans. But Jordan Poole, written off after a shaky rookie year, is a legitimate scoring threat (although Draymond Green is still yelling at him on defense.)

And maybe the most encouraging sign from the current road trip was that first-round draft choice Jonathan Kuminga got some regular minutes. And it isn’t all put-your-head-down-and-power-to-the-basket either.

He’s setting screens, rebounding and when James Harden tried to hoist a floater over him, Kuminga went above the rim to swat it away.

Oh, and by the way, Thompson — arguably the best shooter in the game — is due back in the next month. And who knows what seven-footer James Wiseman will bring to the party when he returns?

All of which is nice, but we know the real X-factor. It’s the answer Kerr gave recently when he was asked what makes the Warriors’ offense so difficult to defend. Two words.

“Steph Curry.”

Kerr often makes a single, remarkable statement — so often I don’t think it always registers.

“There’s never been anyone like him,” Kerr says.

It’s true. Kobe Bryant was touted as another Michael Jordan. LeBron James is a burlier version of Magic Johnson.

But who is like Steph, a 6-3 guard who can’t dunk? Sure, his long-range shooting stokes the legend. But who is there who shoots like that and then makes those herky-jerky moves to the basket for crazy layups? Who doesn’t growl or trash talk, but jokes and smiles on the court?

He weaves such a spell that even the opposing fans get pulled in.

At last week’s game in Brooklyn, the New York fans were chanting “MVP!” That had to sting a bit for Durant. It wasn’t as loud, but Curry heard those chants in Cleveland, too.

Andrew Wiggins admits it was weird at first.

“Go on the road and they’re cheering for us,” he said. “I guess that’s one of the perks of having Steph on your team.”

The nightmare, of course, would be if Curry got hurt. (I am lighting a candle right now.)

But you’ve probably heard the talk about how he’s put on some muscle. That’s clear when you see him up close. He looks more like an NFL defensive back than that skinny kid from Davidson.

Barring a bad break, he looks like somebody who could hold up for a season — and beyond. It’s way too early to start predicting a Finals appearance.

But on the other hand, they’ve done it before.

As Green said to Durant during their famous on-court confrontation in 2018:

“We don’t need you. We won without you.”

And now, this week, Green has posted a video. It’s full of F-bombs, of course, so we’ll do a little editing:

“A lot of people wrote us off,” he begins. “Saying the dynasty is over.”

He concedes that this is still early in the season, “but we have a damn good team.”

And he finishes with a message for the doubters.

“Don’t let us win a effing championship. Because then you gotta hear from me.”

Contact C.W. Nevius at cw.nevius@pressdemocrat.com. Twitter: @cwnevius