Stephen Curry flicked aside the question to deliver the politically correct answer because he's clever enough to know honesty is not always prudent.
Klay Thompson late Friday night claimed he doesn't care who the Warriors will face now that they have eliminated the Memphis Grizzlies from the playoffs.
He cares, and so do his teammates. Though the Warriors would be prepared for any opponent in the Western Conference finals, their hearts and souls crave facing the Los Angeles Clippers – and not just for the geographically desirable travel schedule.
The Clippers are the last team to eliminate the Warriors from the postseason, and they still burn from being ousted last May in an edgy series that was in doubt until the final seconds of Game 7.
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Mostly, though, there is the high-voltage emotion that runs between these two teams, who have been battling for Pacific Division supremacy for three seasons, long before they ever butted heads sabers in the playoffs.
The Clippers must first get past the Rockets in Game 7 of their semifinal series Sunday in Houston, a feat that seems particularly difficult after Los Angeles gagged a 19-point second half lead in Game 6 at home on Thursday night.
Please understand that the Warriors would gladly and rudely welcome the Rockets. Andrew Bogut will be ready to rumble with Dwight Howard. Curry detests Houston guard Patrick Beverley, a certified pest whose availability is unlikely after wrist surgery. And there is the pride fight between Curry, who won the MVP award, and Rockets guard James Harden, who finished second.
But trust us when we say the Warriors will be rooting for the Clippers. Dub Nation will be rooting for Warriors-Clippers, as will all those watching the NBA's bottom line, as well as all involved TV executives.
That's because no other postseason series offers the dramatic edge that is felt between the Warriors and the Clippers. It's Curry vs. Chris Paul and Bogut vs. DeAndre Jordan. It's Draymond Green vs. Blake Griffin, with Dahntay Jones yapping in the background. It's Bay Area vs. SoCal. It's Thompson going home and Matt Barnes going against the world.
[INSTANT REPLAY: Warriors down Grizzlies, on to conference finals]
It's a well-documented recent history of bruises, beefs and bloodstains. What these teams have between them is primal and palpable. It's legitimate disdain, which lends itself to natural theater.
It's the best ingredients of which the NBA playoffs historically are made.
So no matter what they say or don't say in advance of Clippers-Rockets, the Warriors want the Clippers. And the poetry of sport demands it.
