Oakland vs. Denver- Oakland is far superior

     I have found myself doing a lot of pretending lately. I pretend I don't listen to Dreamgirls and Les Mis songs so people won't judge me. I pretend to care about any first round series other than the Nuggets vs. Warriors, so I can keep up with the NBA drama. I pretend that anything, including my newly acquired job, in the world other than the upcoming Warriors game matters to me. I pretend to care about the newest Tom Cruise movie (HUGE disappointment, by the way), so I can hold a conversation with other Tom Cruise crazed fans. I pretend to care about the difference between real and generic brands so I can notice a fake Louis Vutton bag from a real one. The toughest act to pull off, though, is pretending to not notice Stephen Curry's rise to super-stardom.

     If you haven't seen highlights of Stephen Curry's 54 points in the Garden, I recommend a trip over to YouTube. It is impossible to watch his performance and stay away from goosebumps arriving. (Side note: I teared up watching a recap of his coming of (age) superstar moment). In fact, search any Bay Area sports team's most recent season recap and brace yourself for goosebumps galore. Every team in the Bay (minus the Raiders) is drinking the same East Bay MUD water and embracing the expected "magical season" effects.

     So, when did Stephen Curry become a superstar? Was it his 54 point performance? His second half of the season (fresh off an All-Star snub) lights out shooting? Or, his insane first 4 games in his playoff debut? What is the correct answer, Jeeves? Eh, who cares what Jeeves and any magic eight ball says, it was a combination of all his performances.

     The series against the always over-hyped, yet gritty and freakishly athletic Nuggets team was the perfect stage for Curry to announce and back up his superstar campaign. Even George "ageless" Karl had no idea how to stop Curry when he got hot. Unfortunately for the Dubs, Karl is no Poppovich and the Nuggets are no San Antonio Spurs.The Spurs play the best team basketball in the world and thanks to coach Popp, they attack any teams weakness and exploit it. That makes me incredibly worried as a Warriors fan, especially after the last 6 minutes of this closeout game against Denver. The Warriors showed all youth basketball teams "The worst way to finish a game". Scary.

     Only a home-body biased Warriors fan would be crazy enough to argue this series wouldn't have been different had Danilo Galllinari been healthy. It absolutely wold have been. Gallinari is one of the few (but proud) Nuggets who can actually shoot. He would have stretched the floor and provided more space to an already wide open lane for Ty "don't call me Tywon" Lawson. If nothing else, I realized a few things about the city of Denver and their basketball team.

1. My first thought, after witnessing their "crowd" was, "Of course! This was the perfect city for Tim "Timothy" Tebow to play in." That is the only city crazy and desperate enough to back a "quarterback" like Tebow.

2. Kenneth "overrated" Faried is just that, overrated. He averages around 10 points a game. About 6 of those points come off alley-oops, with the other 4 being a product of wide open layups, thanks to Ty Lawson isolations.

3. I will never like, or travel to the city of Denver.

4. Compare GM Michael Jordan to GM Danny Ainge. Now compare Oracle's crowd to Pepsi Center's "crowd". No comparison.

    Thank you, Mark Jackson. Thank you, Stephen Curry. Thank you, the Big Aussie. You're a joke Klay Thompson. Thank you, Draymond "Money" Green. Thank you, R-ORACLE Arena. You're a joke, Chris Mullin. Thank you, Jarrett Jack. Thank you, David Lee's brief return. You're a joke, NBA TNT Analysts "Nuggets in 6!" Thank you, Bay Area! Crazy year. Next up, Goliath. Bring it on!