More than half of the NBA regular season has passed, and teams are now sprinting for the playoffs. A lot of teams went through a trade in the middle of the season, so a lot of teams have been reshuffled. There are two underdogs in the West that have improved significantly since the trade: the Lakers and the Warriors. The Lakers have been gaining momentum lately, and their overall immediacy has improved a few notches, and with a series of mid-season trades, they are now fully capable of making the playoffs.

And the Warriors have been reborn after getting Butler, and they will become the biggest dark horse in the West this year. Because before getting Butler, many people were not optimistic about the Warriors making the playoffs. But the changes in the team since getting Butler have been too noticeable, and they are now on a four-game winning streak, and with today's win over the Hornets, they have improved their record to the top eight in the West. And according to authoritative media predictions, the Warriors are likely to make the playoffs with a top-six finish in the West after the season.

So many teams have to be careful when they meet the Warriors in the playoffs, and even the Thunder, who are ranked first in the West this year, have to be extremely careful when they meet the Warriors. Because the Thunder are a very young team, they lack playoff experience, and the Warriors have a lot of playoff experience in the last ten years, whether it is team leader Curry or Butler or Green, they have playoff experience that many young people do not have. Kerr, in particular, is a very good head coach in the playoffs, and Kerr's ability to adjust in the best-of-seven series is unparalleled.

So some young teams in the playoffs this year may not have an advantage, although their regular season record is very good, but the playoffs and the regular season are completely different games, some players perform very well in the regular season, but in the playoffs his performance will drop significantly. And the Warriors have Butler, and as we all know, the playoffs are Butler's real stage. So this year's Warriors are a very exciting team to look forward to in the playoffs, and they really have a good chance of replicating the 2022 playoff road.