Who’s most likely play-in tournament opponent?

Stephen Curry’s scoring spree and the Warriors’ potential matchup against the defending champion Lakers in the firstever play-in tournament have made Golden State the talk of the NBA once again.

When the league introduced the play-in tournament for this pandemic-shortened season, it couldn’t have predicted it would feature two of the league’s biggest stars in Curry and LeBron James.

But that’s what we’re looking at after Curry’s 49-point flurry led the Warriors to a 136-97 victory against the overmatched Oklahoma City Thunder at Chase Center on Saturday night. The win gave the Warriors sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference, where they’d likely face the slumping Lakers, who have fallen to the No. 7 spot.

After a strong start to the season, James and Anthony Davis missed extended time with injuries and the Lakers have slid a game behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the No. 6 seed with a week left in the regular season.

Meanwhile, the Warriors have ridden Curry’s torrid shooting into a desirable No. 8 spot in the West’s play-in tournament, meaning they would get two chances to win one game and advance to the postseason.

The winner of the No. 9 vs. No. 10 game must still beat the loser of the seveneight game to advance into a playoff series.

Basketball-Reference currently lists the Warriors’ odds of finishing in the eighth seed at 57.9 percent, with the Lakers’ odds at the No. 7 spot listed as 73.1 percent.

Heading into tonight’s game against the conference-leading Utah Jazz, the Warriors (35-33) are a half-game ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies (34-33), who beat the Toronto Raptors on Saturday.

The Warriors and Grizzlies meet in the regularseason finale on May 16 in San Francisco, a game that could decide the tiebreaker.

For all of his milestones and highlights, Curry’s eye-popping scoring numbers have lifted a flawed and shorthanded Warriors team into the thick of the playoff race.

On Saturday, Curry turned in his 10th 40-point game of the season and his seventh game this year with at least 10 3-pointers — the 22nd such game of his career.

Curry nearly scored 50 points Saturday despite checking out of the game for the last time at the end of the third quarter with Golden State holding a whopping 39-point lead over the hapless Thunder. His 49 points came on 14for-26 shooting (11-of-21 from 3-point range) in just 29 minutes.

“He’s just always spectacular these days and tonight he topped it, he was really spectacular,” head coach Steve Kerr said after the win. “When he got going there in the third, I think we had about 4,000 fans in the stands, and you could just hear every one of them in anticipation of the ball going into the hoop. It’s just amazing to me — the skill level is matched by his confidence level and magical things happen.”

Added Kevon Looney: “Steph puts on a show every night. It’s amazing some of the shots he hits, some of the shots he takes. It feels like one play all five guys were guarding him. He was still able to get up a shot and make it.”

After disposing of Oklahoma City, things will get much tougher with the Jazz and the No. 2-seeded Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, especially if the injuryriddled Warriors have just eight players. However, Golden State will get a break against Utah, which will be without guards Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell.

“This was great to get a couple of home wins and build some momentum,” Kerr said.