Warriors' dominance: a 2nd straight title inevitable?

he Golden State Warriors plow into the playoffs with a record 73 wins under their belt and championship rings already on their fingers.

Their domination of the league this season, coupled with the perception that San Antonio and Cleveland are the only real challengers to the Warriors' throne, has cast a feeling of inevitability on this year's NBA playoffs, which begin Saturday.

"I just can't think of a scenario in professional basketball, at least one that I've lived through, in which a team that is this dominant and this complete on both ends of the floor doesn't end up doing what it has set out to do," NBATV analyst Brent Barry said this week.

The league has long fought a perception that the postseason is too predictable, that the best teams always win. Casual fans point to the incredible drama in the win-or-go-home NCAA tournament as the ideal model and lament the perceived lack of upsets in the NBA with its seven-game playoff series that favor the most talented teams.

But a closer look at recent history reveals plenty of surprises along the way. Last year's playoffs were chalky, with the top two seeds in each conference advancing to the conference finals and the top-seeded Warriors beating the Cavaliers " seeded second in the East " in the Finals.Before that, the sixth-seeded Nets beat No. 3 Toronto in the Eastern quarterfinals, fifth-seeded Memphis made a run to the Western Conference finals in 2013 and a No. 8 seed has beaten a No. 1 seed in 2012, 2011 and 2007.

LeBron James needs no convincing.

His top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers lost to No. 3 Orlando in the Eastern Conference finals in 2009 and No. 4 Boston in 2010, the infamous series that preceded James' exodus to Miami.

"The regular season doesn't mean anything at this point," Warriors guard Stephen Curry said Friday. "We have two months to play our best basketball and compete and get it done."