Warriors race to avoid NBA play-in tournament over final 10 games – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

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Five intoxicating weeks for the Warriors have given way to 11 days of futility. The Great Surge provided by the addition of Jimmy Butler III has been halted, and the salient question now is whether they have it in them to summon a restart.

After going 14-2 in the first 16 games after Butler’s arrival, Golden State is 2-3 over its last five, most recently with consecutive losses at the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat. With Stephen Curry out with a pelvic bruise, both underdogs rose up and slapped the Warriors off their home floors.

Those losses – along with a Los Angeles Clippers win in New York on Wednesday – have evicted the Warriors from their 23-day stay in sixth place in the Western Conference.

If Curry’s expected return isn’t enough to fight off the next two teams, the New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs, both underdogs, the Warriors will have nullified their good work over the five weeks that ended on March 15.

Golden State’s goal since the NBA All-Star break has been to finish among the top six in the West, thereby avoiding the NBA play-in tournament. They have 10 games to make up ground. It will be strenuous.

Here is a look at The Final 10:

March 28 at New Orleans Pelicans

The perpetually wounded Pelicans are 20-53. Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones are out for the season, and Zion Williamson is in and out of action. Golden State can’t afford any more losses to inferior teams. A loss here would put a torch within inches of their hopes. Gotta be a W.

March 30 at San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs are 8-11 since Victor Wembanyama went down in mid-February. It’s not in their blood to go quietly, but losing the season series to the Spurs, even with the midseason arrival of De’Aaron Fox, should be grounds for postseason exclusion. Gotta be another W.

April 1 at Memphis Grizzlies

The road to the finish line gets bumpy. This is the first of five games against West teams playing for something. These two have a longstanding distaste for each other, and a victory would give Golden State the head-to-head tiebreaker. It’s unlikely that both teams will avoid the play-in…

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Publish date : 2025-03-27 07:21:00

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