Warriors make NBA Finals in one of ESPN’s random 2025-26 season simulations originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
If the computers have their way, Warriors fans could have much to celebrate this upcoming NBA season.
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Per an ESPN simulation of the 2025-26 campaign, Golden State will advance to its seventh NBA Finals under coach Steve Kerr but come up short of a fifth title, falling to the Orlando Magic.
While it’s important to note that the simulation is just one of thousands ESPN completed before the start of the season, the results speak to a retooled Warriors roster expected to make noise in the Western Conference this year. The Finals loss to Orlando is a sour ending to an otherwise impressive, simulated run that puts Golden State back among the NBA’s elite teams.
In the simulation, curated by ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, the Warriors begin the 2025-26 season with a win over the Los Angeles Lakers and never look back, compiling the league’s top record by the NBA All-Star Break.
“As the NBA gathered from Feb. 13 to 15 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, the Warriors were the talk of the league,” Pelton wrote. “[Draymond] Green and Jimmy Butler III joined Steph Curry on the West roster thanks to Golden State’s league-best 42-13 record at the break.”
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From there, the Warriors secure the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference by season’s end, finishing with a 63-19 record, before dispatching the Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Clippers and reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs to reach the Finals.
Per the simulation, that is where Golden State’s luck runs out. Led by Finals MVP Paolo Banchero, the Magic claim their first NBA title in franchise history by outlasting the Warriors in seven games.
Kerr and company undoubtedly would accept a vast majority of these results in a heartbeat, but none of it matters when the real season tips off a week from Tuesday against the Lakers.
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