5 Best NBA Teams from the 2010s

#3 Golden State Warriors, 2017-18

Starting lineup (without injuries): Andre Iguodala, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green

Bench players - Shaun Livingston, JaVale McGee, Kevon Looney, Nick Young, Jordan Bell, Quinn Cook, David West, Damian Jones

The 2017-18 season posed a number of problems to the Warriors. Despite getting off to a great start to the year, they floundered a bit in February and fell behind in the race for #1 seed to the Rockets, before losing all 4 of their All Stars to some form of injury for at least a week.

Come playoff time, however, they were as locked in as ever, as they demonstrated in the first 3 games of their first round series against the Spurs. They lost Game 4, but came back to the Oracle Arena to win Game 5 and end the series. They also beat the Pelicans in Game 1 before Steph staged a comeback from the MCL injury that had kept him out for 7 weeks by that point, and they went 2-0 up before dropping a game at the Smoothie King Center.

Yet, they rebounded with a big win in Game 4 and controlled the entirety of Game 5 to progress with another 4-1 series victory to the Conference Finals. The Rockets posed the greatest threat to the Durant-infused Warriors since 2016, and they held a 3-2 lead over the Oakland franchise at one point. But the loss of Chris Paul to a hamstring injury proved to be too much for the Rockets to fathom, and they lost Games 6 & 7 due to insufficient help from their bench.

The Cavs had a chance to win Games 1 & 3 in the Finals, but a JR Smith blunder and a dominant performance from Kevin Durant ensured the Warriors' only series sweep of their 2018 playoff run, precipitating LeBron James' exit from the Cavaliers.