Welcome to the NBA’s Western Conference, which should be as wild as ever. The Oklahoma City Thunder had the conference’s top playoff seed a season ago, have the youngest roster of any contender and had arguably the best offseason of any team in the league. Inevitably, at least one legitimately good team won’t make the playoffs, much as the 46-win …
SAN FRANCISCO — Both Steve Kerr and Mike Brown opted to use Wednesday night as a regular-season dress rehearsal, pushing their big-name regulars past 30 minutes and setting up some rare late-game preseason drama. The Kings, protecting a 10-point lead in the final five minutes, pinned their starters up against a Warriors closing lineup of Stephen Curry, Chris Paul, Klay …
