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Washington (AFP) – Stephen Curry, twice a better NBA player, will be thrilled to watch the Golden State Warriors hoist another championship banner on Tuesday at the opening of the NBA 2018-1919 campaign against Oklahoma City.
But the 3-point sniper does not need to look forward to knowing that the Warriors remain the team to beat while they start the quest for a third consecutive title in the NBA and a fourth crown in five seasons.
"I'm still shining," Curry says. "The glow will not work until you have been beaten."
The Warriors include three other All-Stars in NBA doubles forward Kevin Durant, defender Draymond Green and Curry's back-end partner, Klay Thompson, plus a fifth in the injured DeMarcus Cousins center, signed in July but still missing after Achilles tendon surgery in January.
Once back in training, the return of the Cousins could add spice to the regular Golden State season, which has so far avoided allowing repetitive dominance to lead to complacency.
"It's the thing I'm most proud of with our team," said Curry. "We are talented and all that, but the work on it, the mental approach to turning the page, has been around for three years.
"You work so hard to have the right to be proud of yourself at the end of summer."
– & # 39; Can not just sleepwalking & # 39; –
Golden State will attempt to become the first Los Angeles Lakers team from 2000 to 2002 to win three consecutive NBA titles and join the Minneapolis Celkers in the 1950s and the Boston Celtics of the 1960s as the only clubs to have won four titles in five years.
The Celtics dynasty, which has eight consecutive titles and nine in total from 1957 to 1966, is the only NBA team to reach five consecutive NBA Finals – a feat that the Warriors can achieve this season.
The Houston Rockets, who pushed the Warriors to seven games in the Western Conference final of last season, and the Boston Celtics, bringing injured stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward to a winning title team of the Eastern Conference last season, could pack of rivals who have a hard time playing for the championship.
"To be honest, it's fun," said Curry about the target of every NBA rival. "No matter whether it's a Tuesday night at home or a consecutive stay in a random East Coast city, you're going to be tested and you can not just doze.
"We have been exposed sometimes to times when we are not extremely stuck and we can be beaten, but when we are focused and in harmony with each other, we understand what we are trying to do to succeed, obviously we are hard. "
Nobody knows it better than the Rockets, who won last season one of the top 65 in the league after NBA Top Scorer and top scorer James Harden. Houston led Golden State 3-2 in the Western Final before Chris Paul got injured on the hamstring and missed the last two games, both won by the Warriors to reach the NBA Finals , where they swept Cleveland for the crown.
– we have an answer & # 39; –
Four-time NBA player LeBron James has left Cleveland for the Los Angeles Lakers, but he is unlikely to win 35 titles for the title contenders in one season. star star Carmelo Anthony at the programming.
"We are trying to win a championship, the margin of error is very small," said Rockets coach Mike D & # 39; Antoni. "With this team, the depth we have, I think we have an answer to everything, we just need to understand what the answer is."
The Celtics have some sort to do as well in an East to win with James left Cleveland. Toronto added that Kawhi Leonard and Philadelphia offer young talent, but Boston proves to be the best in the East.
Stars Irving and Hayward suffered serious injuries that allowed Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier to make an impact and almost allowed the Celtics to qualify for the final. By combining this talent in a formidable formation over the last six months of the season, Boston would become a threat to the title.
"This franchise is really designed for the next few years and will be one of the most prestigious teams in the league," said Irving. "Who would not want to be a part of it, what more can you ask an organization to really raise your game?" I look forward to the challenge this year. "
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