Are the Warriors eliminated if they lose today against the Kings in the playoffs?

The Golden State Warriors are an NBA dynasty. They have been to the last six finals, winning four of them. They are the top seed in the playoffs.

And they are one loss away from going home.

Let’s face it, Steph Curry and the GSW are the gold standard for basketball excellence. But this year’s playoffs have seen them look… well… tired. And old.

The Sacramento Kings, a team who should not have, at least theoretically, been able to run with the Warriors, have made them look downright pedestrian over the round 1 series. Oh, sure, the series is tied up at three games apiece, but that is three games more than it should have been.

The Kings’ Kevin Huerter said it succinctly when he chirped, “We’ve had a great spirit, we have all year. We’ve responded all year. We didn’t lose faith. We knew we had a Game 7 back at home. We’re capable of winning in this building. Our offense has been asleep I think most of this series. We just know if we can get back to ourselves we could continue this series. We did that tonight. But our confidence never wavered.”

Warriors coach Steve Kerr sounded far more downbeat when he said of his team’s Game 6 performance, “It was a poor night for all of us, including me. We always say: we win together, we lose together. This was a team effort that includes players and coaches. The Kings outplayed us, outcoached us and deserved to win.”

Now if the Kings can pull off a win in Game 7, it will be the upset of the season, marking the first time in seven years that the final won’t go through San Francisco. And that, more than anything else, will blow the doors wide open on the NBA final.