Warriors’ Steph Curry chasing 5th ring — 2 unpredictable obstacles stand in his way

The Golden State Warriors are going to be in the NBA playoffs this season. Well, sort of.

But can Stephen Curry and his teammates make any noise? That's going to be a lot tougher of a task.

There are really two things working against Curry, and neither of them are easy.

The first is this injury absence for Curry, which has extended long beyond the initial expectation. He's dealing with "runner's knee," and that's not an ideal spot for him to find himself.

If Curry can't make it back in time to get up to speed, none of what comes next will be significant.

But that what comes next part? That's also a challenge.

The Warriors are "sort of" going to the playoffs because at the moment, all they can do is be a part of the Western Conference's Play-In Tournament. It looks like they'll have to win the 9-10 game, then beat the loser of the game between the 7-8 seeds, and then that would get them into the main bracket.

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That's not to mention that the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder would then likely await in that first round.

And yes, the Warriors are without Jimmy Butler for the rest of the season.

The name brand of Curry and Golden State together would have you feeling like anything is possible for the Warriors.

But if this team, in these circumstances, made a deep playoff run, it'd likely be the most impressive accomplishment of Curry's entire NBA career.

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