Can the Warriors avoid the Play-In Tournament? This is what they need

The Golden State Warriors are in a heated battle for an automatic playoff spot in the first round of the postseason, but are currently on the outside looking in. Every game is going to be a must win if they want to catch up with the rest of the pack who would avoid the Play-In, if the regular season started today.

Playing out of the Play-In

The Warriors are back home after a three game road swing taking the New York Knicks in a pivotal battle for postseason position for both teams. The Knicks are fighting for home court in the first round in the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, while the Warriors are trying to claw out of the cellar of the Play-In picture in the West.

While Stephen Curry remains the unstoppable force he has been for the last decade, the rest the foundation of what made up the NBA’s latest dynasty is on a downhill slope. Klay Thompson is flourishing in his role coming off the bench, but the fact that he has to come off the bench should tell you something about where he stands in his long and illustrious career. Draymond Green still has his patented blend of strength and smarts but his body isn’t quite holding up like it was in previous seasons.

With injuries and aging taking its toll on Golden State they come into tonight’s game with the Knicks in 9th place in the West, 11.5 games behind the conference leading Oklahoma City Thunder. That is the same amount of games that the Lakers are trailing the Thunder, but Golden State hold the tie breaker between the two teams after their win at the Crypto.com Arena over the weekend. If the season ended today the Lakers would be the 10 seed and the Warriors would be the 9 seed meaning both teams would have to win two Play-In games to reach the Western Conference Playoffs.

The race is on

The Suns and the Mavericks are in 7th and 8th respectively, and both teams are three games ahead of the Warriors with identical records of 39-29. Dallas and Phoneix are currently in a three way tie with the Sacramento Kings who have the edge in the three way tiebreak at the moment, and have played two fewer games.

There is a long way to go before the end of the regular season, and the Warriors have a couple make up games still in store after the tragic passing of their assistant head coach Dejan Milojevic. To catch up to the rest of the pack, and jump into the 6 seed they are going to need to win most of their remaining 16 games left in the season, and hope that the Kings, Suns, and Mavericks lose a handful of their remaining games.

It’s still too early to come up with a mathematical formula for what the Warriors will need, but those two games in hand (in Utah and against the Mavericks) could be crucial in their chase for an automatic playoff bid.