SAN FRANCISCO — The Golden State Warriors find themselves as the seed of the Western Conference Play-In Tournament, needing two wins to make the actual playoffs. A defeat this week pushes them closer to the inevitable end of their season.
This is the anticlimactic conclusion in 82 games: the No. 10 seed. And their latest twist is that they play well with their backs against the wall.
Is true. The best players on this team have experienced epic postseason triumphs, living up to many of the limits they were pushed to. Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Chris Paul, Andrew Wiggins, Kevon Looney — they’ve earned credibility in this situation.
However, after 82 games, it is also clear that the must-win reinforcement is but the only hope left to save this season. While it’s built on the history of meeting moments, it’s also the last remaining juice to baste this season’s turkey with.
Here they are now.
“We feel like we have to go win,” Green said Sunday after watching the Warriors beat the Utah Jazz, 123-116, in a black sweatshirt and cement green Jordan 3s. “But it’s exciting. You know, it’s do or die. It probably feels more like the NCAA tournament. I give you that feeling. … We just have to go and win.”
Legacies built in June don’t feel good in March Madness.
It’s hard to be sure they can pull it off, but it would make perfect sense for them to do so. Welcome to the betwixt that is the Warriors. They always give you a reason to believe they can pull it off, tempered by evidence those days are gone. They are still good enough to beat almost any opponent, especially a flawed one. At the same time, they’re not good enough to summon their best at will, and they can rarely outplay an opponent’s best.
The Warriors could lose to the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday, and that would be an absence of innovation. If they bowed out of this season so unceremoniously, mired in mediocrity along with the Chicago Bulls or Atlanta Hawks, it would be unworthy of their resume, but it would certainly suit this particular campaign. Of course, they could also boat race the Kings, outdoing their smaller brothers to the north, as they did last season, all in the name of nostalgia.
You just never know with this team.
But what we do know, what the grueling NBA season tends to make clear, is that they end this season further from their goal than when it started. The only way to change that reality now is to make the playoffs worthy of their belief.
A year ago, when the then-defending champion Warriors finished as the No. 6 seed and had to go to Sacramento for Games 1 and 7, that it was considered an unsettled season. And when the Warriors were finally ousted in the second round, it felt unnatural to return home in May after six straight trips to the NBA Finals in years when Curry, Green and Thompson were healthy.
“It’s different, but something you have to embrace,” Thompson said. “We have a chance. It’s all you can ask for. We are setting ourselves up for success down the road. We’ve been playing really well on the road, especially lately. It’s different, obviously, than it was in 2022. But whatever. It’s still basketball. We have a lot of experience to rely on.”
The pervasive theme back then, echoing through the halls of Crypto.com Arena after their Game 6 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in last season’s playoffs, was how they had maxed out their roster — a dual message of how close they were, finishing among the top four in the West and how they needed more to get there.
They came into this season feeling like they added what they needed. They traded for Pavlos. He made two productive rookies, Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis. and cleared the rotation spot for budding star Jonathan Kuminga.
In addition, Curry played 74 games, the most since 2016-17. Thompson played 77 games, his most since returning from back-to-back season-ending injuries. Wiggins played in 71 games after just 37 last season.
He got two more wins.
The result is their lowest finish in the Western Conference since the injury-riddled 2019-20 season. Here they are now.
The story is not finished. They could change the narrative. They could win two road games to get into the playoffs – at Sacramento and the losers of the Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans. They could knock off the inexperienced Oklahoma City Thunder, the top seed in the West and are considered the most vulnerable because of their youth. Such an upset would put the Warriors in a series against the Los Angeles Clippers or Dallas Mavericks. While the Warriors would be underdogs, it’s not outlandish to envision. Dallas has been one of the better teams since the All-Star break, and the Clippers are atop their roster. But both teams have flaws. Winning this series would put the Warriors in the Western Conference finals.
See how easy it is? To confuse what is possible with what is probable. To apply past greatness to present day examples. To rationalize a better existence for these Warriors.
The seasoned Warriors say they play well with their backs against the wall. We’ll soon find out if this continues in the do-or-die Play-In tournament. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
As coach Steve Kerr argues, this is a better team than the Warriors assembled last season. However, they lost ground in their pursuit of a fifth championship as the best in the conference made bigger strides than Golden State. Nine teams in the West are better than these Warriors. Nine. That’s a scary conclusion for a team of such greatness.
All this season the Warriors have been waiting, promising, to find their stride. Eventually, the story goes, they would land somewhere among the contenders, where their resumes suggest they belong. But this season has been a blow of delayed gratification.
They never solved the close game contests that they thought was their wheelhouse. They never quite got over their home woes, one of the more puzzling elements of the season. They never found their way up the conference ladder to the sixth seed.
They finally found a stride, going 25-12 after January. But when they had a chance to lock up the No. 8 seed, the last win of the regular season, the Warriors confirmed that their woes were not over. They lost another close game, at home, with stakes on the line, to a winning New Orleans team.
Would suggest an upgrade somewhere, major. The other option, surely presented to owner Joe Lacob by someone fiscally responsible, is to cut costs and regroup. End the season now instead of chasing its shadow.
One more run could change that. Another Warriors-like kick could prove they are a few changes away from a comeback. Of course it is possible. It’s Curry. It is green. It’s Thompson. Chances be damned.
Their backs are against the wall. It’s do or die. Win or go home. They’re made for this March Madness-style setup. Right, Clay?
“I never played in it. I can’t relate to that,” said Thompson, the Washington State product, as he ended the interview by walking away. He walked a few steps before calling out an addition. “The NIT though. It’s the same form.”
Here they are now.
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(Top photo of Klay Thompson during Friday’s game against the Pelicans: Kavin Mistry/Getty Images)
