The NBA playoffs never go according to plan. The Golden State Warriors are proof of that.

Again.

They have been the league’s best team over the last four seasons Authentic Braden Smith Jersey , without question. But even the great teams need injury luck on their side, as has been evident in each of their playoff runs over that span.

Enter Chris Paul and Andre Iguodala this year.

In 2015, Golden State didn’t have to face injured Cleveland stars Kyrie Irving or Kevin Love in the NBA Finals and won the title.

A year later, the Warriors blew a 3-1 finals lead against the Cavs because the series turned in Game 5 – not because Draymond Green was suspended (the often-offered and incorrect narrative), but because Andrew Bogut got clumsily taken out by J.R. Smith and the Warriors had no one left to defend the rim from LeBron James’ constant onslaughts.

Last year, Kawhi Leonard came down on Zaza Pachulia’s foot in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, San Antonio’s big lead was gone in an instant and the Warriors steamrolled the rest of the way to another title.

Injuries taketh away. Injuries giveth.

The reigning NBA champions are on the brink of elimination, down 3-2 in the West finals in large part because Iguodala’s knee has prevented him from playing in the last two games – both of them close losses to the Houston Rockets, outcomes that may have been different if he was on the floor.

But now those Rockets have lost Paul to a hamstring strain. Officially, Paul is out for Game 6 against the Warriors on Saturday. Realistically, the perennial All-Star is probably out for a lot longer.

Series lead, Houston.

Advantage, it sure seems like Golden State.

”Injuries happen,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Friday. ”And you’ve just got to play with whoever’s out there.”

It’s amazing to consider that the Warriors have four All-Stars – Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson Falcons Authentic Jerseys , Kevin Durant and Green – and yet they’re one loss from summer right now because a 34-year-old Iguodala hasn’t been on the floor. Make no mistake, his absence has crushed the Warriors and especially so in late-game situations.

Golden State was awful offensively in the fourth quarter of Game 4 and lost. The Warriors then got ripped for Quinn Cook taking a wide-open 3-pointer and missing with about a minute left in the Game 5 loss at Houston. Green’s many social-media critics reveled in how he dropped a pass and booted the ball off his leg in the final seconds for a turnover that cost Golden State a chance to tie or win the game.

If Iguodala was there, he’d have been involved in those plays.

”He’s one of our keys, and we’ve missed him the last two games,” Kerr said.

Iguodala might be able to get through it and play on Saturday night. Paul won’t; in fact, it seems logical to fear that his season may be over regardless of how far the Rockets go.

Hamstrings don’t heal in a day or two. Playing through an ankle sprain or broken finger, that’s noble at this time of year. Hamstrings don’t allow for such displays of toughness. Running, jumping, cutting, they’re simply not possible. Paul could barely stand after getting hurt Thursday. Anyone envision him running by Monday?

Probably not.

This has been the NBA season of injuries. Gordon Hayward’s season was over after five minutes on opening night and the Boston Celtics had to reinvent themselves. The Celtics had to do so again when they lost Irving to knee surgery late in the regular season. It took time; the Celtics nearly were knocked out in the first round before finding their stride again.

The Warriors, they’re running out of time. The Rockets, they don’t have time to waste either. Without Paul this season, they’re an exceptional 61-12. Without him, they’re 15-9 – still good, but hardly great.

Even with a 3-2 lead Panthers DJ Moore Jersey , the Rockets probably need one more great game to end Golden State’s reign.

”We’ve been here before,” Kerr said.

The Warriors aren’t acting like worriers. They’ve learned how to roll with the punches at playoff time, no matter how much they hurt.

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Tim Reynolds is a national basketball writer for The Associated Press. Write to him at treynolds(at)ap.org

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PITTSBURGH — There is nothing routine or stale for the Pittsburgh Penguins as they begin their quest for their third straight Stanley Cup Wednesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers at PPG Paints Arena in a first-round playoff series opener.

“I still pinch myself almost every day that you get to be a part of something like this,” said Pittsburgh goaltender Matt Murray, who won each of the past two Stanley Cups while technically a rookie under NHL rules.

“It’s just so exciting. It’s like Christmas when you’re a kid almost. You know how much fun you had watching when you were a kid. I’ll bet you I’ll feel like that for years and years. It’s really cool that I get to be here. I’m just trying to cherish that.”

They’re also trying hard to win it all again, while not overlooking the journey.

“Certainly, the expectation within our room is that we have the ability to compete,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “We know that it’s hard, and we know that we’ve got to go out and earn it each and every day, each and every game. That’s where our mindset is. I don’t think any of us are trying to reflect on where this team stands.”

The Penguins finished second in the Metropolitan Division, just two points ahead of the Flyers, but seem to enter their first-round series as a bigger favorite than that margin would indicate, more than likely based on Pittsburgh’s recent postseason success.

Philadelphia isn’t arguing that point, but the team isn’t accepting anything as a foregone conclusion, either.

“We didn’t expect very many people to pick us to come out of this series Orlando Brown Jr. Color Rush Jersey , and that’s OK,” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. “There’s a quiet belief in our dressing room. … We’re the underdog. We’re pegged that. We know that. We’re playing against a hell of a hockey team that has a lot of experience at the playoff level. We’ve got to go out and earn it, and that’s what we’ll do.”

There are a couple more tangible reasons for Pittsburgh to be favored.

The Penguins, who have home-ice advantage in the series, were 30-9-2 at PPG Paints Arena during the regular season. They also have the most potent power play in the NHL going into the postseason, with a 26.2 percent success rate.

And then there were the head-to-head meetings. Pittsburgh swept the four games, scoring five goals in each, with star centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin combining for 14 points.

“I know we didn’t get the points that we wanted in the games against them, but I think out of the four games, in three of them we played really well and kind of let a few games get away,” Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov told the Philadelphia Daily News. “It doesn’t matter now. It’s a clean sheet now in the playoffs and all our focus is on getting the first win.”

Both teams have players who excelled during the regular season. Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux finished second in the league scoring race with 102 points. Pittsburgh’s Malkin was third with 98 points, while teammates Phil Kessel (92) and Crosby (89) ranked eighth and 10th.

The last time these teams met in the playoffs, in 2012, also in the first round, Philadelphia not only upset Pittsburgh in six games but also got under the Penguins’ skins with a physical Authentic Derwin James Jersey , agitating style that led to several Pittsburgh star players getting involved in fights and scrums.

The only Penguins remaining from that team are Crosby, Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang, but all three engaged in the uncharacteristic behavior in the 2012 series.

“We’re all over 30 years old now. We’re supposed to be mature,” Letang said. “I mean, it was. … whatever it was, it was in the moment. Emotional. We have a different team, different experience, different coaching staff. Everything is different, so we don’t even look at that.”

Philadelphia has five holdovers from that series — Giroux, Sean Couturier, Jakub Voracek, Matt Read and Wayne Simmonds.

Couturier said this time the Flyers’ motivation is to win in a more direct way.

“I don’t think we’ve played our best game or a full 60 minutes against Pittsburgh yet,” he told the Daily News. “I like our chances if we play some good hockey and focus for 60 minutes, maybe even more.”

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