The Warriors have three video games left to play with too many potential playoff outcomes.
With a loss to the Nikola Jokic-less Nuggets on Sunday evening in Denver, the Warriors fall to 41-38 and are within the driver’s seat to both safe a assured first-round sequence or probably fall into the play-in event by the common season’s finish.
If the Warriors’ finest probability to safe the sixth seed is to win their last three video games, which is believable.
“There’s a way of urgency on these final three video games and never solely simply the wins, however the vibe that you simply create going right into a playoff sequence,” Steph Curry informed reporters in Denver. “That does matter.”
A Warriors win in Denver would have helped guarantee not less than a sixth seed. However now the Warriors return to Chase Middle for his or her last dwelling recreation towards a hungry Oklahoma Metropolis workforce earlier than embarking again on the dreaded street for 2 video games towards the Sacramento Kings — who simply clinched their first playoff berth in 17 years — and Portland Path Blazers.
The inconsistent Warriors have constantly been torpid on the street, and so they play two of their last three video games away from Chase.
However the Kings might nicely relaxation a few of their starters for the April 7 recreation in Sacramento and the Path Blazers already shut down celebrity Damian Lillard — so the Warriors may run into just a little luck. However they’ve fumbled benefits lots this 12 months, together with a 15-point lead towards a top-seeded Nuggets workforce enjoying with out MVP candidate Jokic.
Golden State is at present tied with the Clippers (41-38) however sits within the sixth seed as a result of the Clippers maintain the tiebreaker through a greater convention document. The Warriors are a half-game forward of the Los Angeles Lakers (40-38) and New Orleans Pelicans (40-38) with the Minnesota Timberwolves (39-40) and Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder (38-41) proper on their tail. The Utah Jazz (36-43) and Dallas Mavericks (37-42) are nonetheless in rivalry by a thread, too.
The Los Angeles Clippers’ recreation towards the Lakers on Wednesday could possibly be a serious determinant in seeding, as one in every of every are assured a loss that may create some separation.
The Pelicans have 4 video games remaining towards the Kings, the No. 2 Grizzlies, the playoff-bound Knicks and Minnesota.
The Lakers have 4 video games remaining, together with two towards the Utah Jazz sandwiching two video games towards the Clippers and Suns. The Timberwolves play the Brooklyn Nets, the bottom-feeding San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans.
Lots is but to be determined with only a handful of video games remaining. And with 9 groups nonetheless within the hunt for a playoff spot, something can occur.
Beneath are the West standings as of Monday morning. No video games are scheduled for the day with the NCAA males’s title recreation tonight:
1. Nuggets: 52-26
2. Grizzlies: 49-29 (3 video games again)
3. Kings: 47-31 (5 GB)
4. Suns: 43-35 (9 GB)
5. Clippers: 41-38 (11.5 GB)
6. Warriors: 41-38 (11.5 GB)
— PLAY-IN —
7. Lakers: 40-38 (12 GB)
8. Pelicans: 40-38 (12 GB)
9. Timberwolves: 39-40 (13.5 GB)
10. Thunder: 38-41 (14.5 GB)
— OUT OF PLAYOFFS —
11. Mavericks: 37-42 (15.5 GB)
12. Jazz: 36-42 (16 GB)