There were then three. The Golden State Warriors’ herky-jerky regular season dress rehearsal and the great stage of the postseason are separated by three games. The Warriors have done enough up to this point to give off the impression of a battered, distracted champion who is ready to be picked off…while also putting up bursts of dominating basketball that might destroy anyone in their path.
That inconsistent basketball has put them into a battle for playoff seeding amongst the mid-to-low records in the Western Conference. They currently are perched in the sixth seed, only a half game removed from falling into the play-in tournament where their penchant for mind numbingly stunning losses could get end their season much earlier than they dreamed.
Speaking of the play-in tournament, OKC has gone from what looked like a full on tanking of the season, to the 10th seed. If they were to hold on to that, they’d get the last berth into the play-in tournament.
Speaking of the play-in tournament, OKC has gone from what looked like a full on tanking of the season, to the 10th seed. If they were to hold on to that, they’d get the last berth into the play-in tournament.
The Oklahoma City Thunder play-in clinching scenarios IF there is no multi-team tiebreaker
– OKC wins 2/3 games
– DAL loses 2/3 games
– OKC wins 1/3 games & DAL loses 1/3 gamesOKC is one game ahead & owns the H2H tiebreaker
— TF (@ThunderFocus) April 3, 2023
The last time these two teams met, the Warriors scored a whopping 128 points….and somehow still lost by nine. It was a shootout emblematic of their road woes this season; they just haven’t played the defense to have a better away record than the 9-30 they sport now.
Fortunately the Dubs have won two out of the three contests between the two franchises this season, so they should have plenty of confidence in wrassling the young upstarts from Oklahoma.
If the Dubs can knock off OKC and improve to 33-8 at home in Chase Center, that’d go a long way to ensuring their playoff destiny is a lock. And finally give their loyal fans in Dub Nation a welcome sigh of relief before it’s GO TIME in the postseason.
Source: https:/www.goldenstateofmind.com
