Programming note: Clippers-Warriors coverage starts Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. with Warriors Pregame Live on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.
OAKLAND – One week into the NBA season a lot of love is finding its way to the Warriors. It's nice to be loved, and the Warriors are getting plenty of positive buzz, with national media blowing kisses their way.
Why not? They're 3-0 despite the absence of starting power forward David Lee, and Klay Thompson is wearing an "S" on his chest and a "$" on his face.
[POOLE: Thompson vows to be more efficient on offense]
Steve Kerr is a rookie head coach, but he's been around the league long enough to understand the pitfalls of self-satisfaction. He made that much emphatically clear after an unsatisfying practice on Tuesday.
"Hell yeah it's a danger," Kerr said of the hype. "I talked to the team about that today. Klay is Player of the Week, people are suddenly picking us to go The Finals . . . and the people who do those power rankings these days are putting us first or second or third.
"And then we come out and have a (expletive: cow dung) practice. Read into that what you want."
[POOLE: Rewind: 'Thompson Show' continues, Warriors down Blazers]
The Warriors have had only one real test, and they aced it. They arrived in Portland around 2 a.m. Sunday, after beating the Lakers at Oracle Arena on Saturday night, and gritted out a 95-90 win over a very good Trail Blazers squad Sunday night.
[RECAP: Thompson, Warriors outlast Blazers]
But now come the Clippers, the popular preseason pick to win the Western Conference or at least make it to the conference finals. The rivals come to Oracle Arena on Wednesday to renew acquaintances with an unbeaten Warriors team.
"I know this team is coming in here to kick our ass," Kerr said. "That's what they're coming for. We'll see if our guys are ready or not."
If the Warriors even think about popping their collars, they have to know the Clippers will try to grab the lapels and choke the swagger out of them. Kerr's message to that end was heard, at least by one of the vocal members of his team.
"We just have to forget all that stuff because it's not important," forward Draymond Green said. "We're 3-0 right now, everybody putting us No. 1 or No. 2 in their power rankings. That's fine. But if we go 0-3 this week, we're going to be No. 20 or 21 in those rankings. So why worry about those things.
"You're going to see it and hear it. But it's only three games into the season. If you're feeling good about yourself after only three games, that's a problem. If you're feeling awful about yourself, that's a problem. It's three games, 79 more to go.
"Three games? If you're feeling yourself, after three games, either way, that's a problem. It's three games. There's so much season left."
