It’s been awhile since we looked at the Golden State Warriors on NBA Tuesday, so this is where we find ourselves today … it’s been more than two months now since we made some suggestions that were not followed by the team’s front office. The team did not follow our advice last year, either, of course, and it cost them. But lo and behold, the move(s) the Warriors did make this year have panned out, surprisingly (to us).

Evidently, chemistry is more important than math.

Okay, that’s our poor attempt at an April Fool’s Day joke, but in sports, team chemistry always matters, and yes, it can overcome the math sometimes—albeit not always. Because chemistry has the power to alter the math in unpredictable ways (we promise to get off the STEM metaphors quickly). In the end, all that matters is since we critiqued the team’s chemistry and math on January 21, the team has gone 22-10. Wow!

A .500 team has blossomed into a potential 50-win team now with just eight games left on the regular-season schedule. The Warriors sit in the sixth spot among Western Conference teams, and they definitely want to avoid the play-in scenarios, which hurt them in 2021 and 2024. They have a half-game lead over the No. 7 team, so Golden State will have to win as much as possible in this final stretch to secure a Top 6 seed.

What’s been the difference? An age-35 small forward with a chip on his shoulder and sustained abilities/intangibles that seemingly were dormant in the first half of this season while he toiled away unhappily on his old team. Jimmy Butler is how the Warriors changed their chemistry, despite trading away some key assets to acquire him. No one is missing Andrew Wiggins in the Bay now, that’s for sure.

Despite playing just 22 games with the team, Butler is already eighth on this year’s roster in Win Shares (3.1), and his WS/48 mark (.208) is tops on the team for anyone who has played at least 20 games this season. His Box Plus/Minus rating (3.7) is second on the roster, only behind longtime leader Stephen Curry (5.8). It’s not a surprise that the two of them top the Warriors in Player Efficiency Rating, either. It’s a good combo.

Curry was carrying too much of the load himself, especially in crunch times. It had been like that for years since Kevin Durant left the team after the 2019 playoffs. Oh, sure, some guys stepped up here and there in the meantime to make big shots, but no one ever did it consistently. Curry’s Olympic display certainly made the Warriors front office realize they still had magic up their sleeves if they could just find the right roster.

They tried with some failed player combos, but they tinkered enough to get Butler—and it’s paying off. The new roster has a chance to make a run, due to new math and situational realities in the Western Conference. We suspect they need to finish with at least 48 wins, though, to avoid those play-in game scenarios, which could demand precious juice the team will need later in the postseason. That’s five wins in the final eight.

Against the remaining opponents? At Memphis, at Los Angeles (Lakers), Denver, Houston, at Phoenix, San Antonio, at Portland, and Los Angeles (Clippers). Those first four games are against teams ahead of them in the standings, so the Warrior would have to split those matchups. The Suns, the Spurs, and the Blazers are buried below Golden State in the standings, so those games are must wins. The home finale becomes huge.

That game against the Clippers at the Chase Center in San Francisco also gets added to the have-to-win list. Both teams are fighting for that sixth spot, and if the Warriors can deliver there, then maybe another unlikely title run is on deck this spring in the Bay Area.