It’s been a complicated couple days for Warriors fans, with news coming down that first Chris Paul and then Blake Griffin – the despised LA Clippers’ two best players – had sustained season-ending injuries. The first emotion I experienced was reflexive glee. Then I started doing the math and realized that this is not necessarily good news. For one thing it means that – assuming for the sake of argument a defeat of the Houston Rockets, which still must be earned – the W’s will have to play the Portland Trail Blazers, who are young and fast and gave us trouble a couple times this season. For another it decreases the likelihood that the Clippers/Blazers series will go 7 games, giving Steph Curry the maximum number of recuperation days before the next series begins. Again assuming blah blah blah etc.

Steph would not be ready for the start of a second-round series, and it remains an open question whether he might be able to play in it at all. I personally choose to remain cautiously optimistic, which is almost always a good way to go. If things break the right way, the W’s could get to the Conference Finals able to say that they’ve overcome some real adversity, throwing another dart in the haters’ eyes. If they don’t break the right way…then they don’t. That’s life, and it will go on regardless.