The Golden State Warriors are running out of time to qualify for the No. 7 vs. No. 8 game in the Western Conference play-in tournament.
The Warriors will continue their late-season dash to move up from the No. 10 spot when they visit the lowly Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night.
Golden State (44-35) has won eight of its last nine games but still finds itself one game behind the eighth-place Sacramento Kings (45-34) with three games to go. The Los Angeles Lakers (45-35) are between them in ninth place.
The Warriors are aware they will need to receive some help to land in the eighth spot.
“We are not the team of old,” said Warriors guard Stephen Curry in reference to the four titles the club has won during his career. “No matter how the week plays out, it’s tough to compare it to years of past when we’re getting announcements, ‘Oh we clinched a top spot,’ but at least you have something to play for.”
The Warriors produced a pivotal 134-120 victory over the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday to bolster their chances of reaching No. 8. Teams that play in the 7-8 game need to win just once to reach the NBA playoffs, while clubs in the 9-10 game have to win twice.
Making a deep run from the play-in round is not unprecedented. Just last season, the Miami Heat lost their initial play-in game before winning the second to reach the playoffs and then eventually reached the NBA Finals before losing to the Denver Nuggets.
“We take a lot of motivation from the Heat last year who had to play two play-in games and made it all the way to the Finals,” Warriors guard Klay Thompson said. “I think we’re capable of a run like that. We obviously can’t look ahead, but whatever happens, we will be ready. We know that it can be done. There is no task too tall for us.”
The Splash Brothers were hot against the Lakers and had a surprise third member in Draymond Green on Tuesday.
Curry made all six of his 3-point attempts, Thompson was 5 of 10 and Green knocked down 5 of 7. Overall, the Warriors were a sizzling 26 of 41 (63.4 percent) from long range.
Golden State has won nine of its past 10 games against the Trail Blazers (21-58), who are next-to-last in the West.
Portland has dropped 12 of its past 14 games, including Tuesday’s 110-100 home loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Deandre Ayton recorded 30 points and 13 rebounds, and Scoot Henderson added 19 points and a career-high 15 assists for Portland.
Henderson’s assists output is the most in a game by a rookie in franchise history. The previous mark of 14 was shared by legendary Bill Walton (Feb. 1, 1975 vs. Seattle SuperSonics) and Kelvin Ransey (Feb. 13, 1981 vs. Denver Nuggets).
Henderson also committed eight turnovers in 41 minutes, but coach Chauncey Billups liked his overall performance.
“I thought he played good. I had to play him too much,” Billups said. “Having the ball in his hands, I think he got a little bit tired. He made some great plays and the connection that he and D.A. had out there was really good.
“I thought Scoot did a good job. Obviously, he turned it over too many times in this game. Some of them I could live with.”
All three of Portland’s losses to Golden State this season were in December. The Trail Blazers lost by four twice and by 20 in the latter meeting.
–Field Level Media
