Playoff push in need of one more big surge
Team is 4 games behind sixth-seeded Kings with 17 left to play
LOS ANGELES — Rookie guard Brandin Podziemski knows it’s unlikely that the Golden State Warriors will miss the postseason altogether. They began Friday seeded 10th in the Western Conference and pegged to the final berth in the play-in round: 3 ⁄ games ahead of the 11th-place Houston Rockets.
But “you don’t want to be a 10seed and have to play two road games to get to an actual series,” Podziemski said Wednesday after a 109-99 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
The Warriors have 17 games to change their postseason positioning.
Golden State’s second-half surge — the Warriors won 14 of 18 games from Jan. 30 to March 6 — has been halted by a swoon that coincided in part with Stephen Curry’s sprained left ankle. The 36-year-old guard — Thursday was his birthday — missed the closing minutes last week of a three-point loss to the Chicago Bulls.
The Warriors since have lost two of three games without him to halt their long-stated pursuit of the No. 6 seed. They entered Friday three games behind the eighth-place Mavericks and four games behind the sixthplace Sacramento Kings.
Elevating beyond a one-anddone scenario requires another surge.
“The season really is a marathon, and at any point. … You rattle off 10 wins in a row, and that matters,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said Wednesday in Dallas. “Whether it’s the beginning or the end, it doesn’t matter.”
Working in the Warriors’ favor is Curry’s impending return to their lineup. He was to rejoin Golden State in Los Angeles on Friday for practice and could be cleared to play Saturday against the Lakers.
They’re 1-5 without him this season.
In the 18 games preceding the one in which he was injured, the Warriors’ 14 wins led the NBA. Their net rating (plus-7.2 points per 100 possessions) and defensive ratings (109) were fifth. Their assist percentage (68.1) was fourth. Their rebounding percentage (53.1) was second.
They’d regained some of their swagger.
Golden State’s remaining strength of schedule seemingly is favorable: Its 17 opponents entered Friday with a collective winning percentage of .475. But the eighth-place Mavericks have an equally easy schedule — and the ninth-place Lakers’ schedule (.490 entering Friday) is favorable, too.
That, the Warriors cannot control.
What they can control is the outcomes of the four remaining games against those two teams: two against the Lakers and two against the Mavericks.
The Kings, Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans also factor into the play-in picture. The Kings (38-27) began Friday as the sixth seed, narrowly ahead of the Suns (38-28) and within reach of the fifth-place Pelicans (3926).
Additional shuffling could happen, considering the remaining strength of schedules. The Suns play the NBA’s second-toughest slate. The Kings and Pelicans play the eighth and 11th, respectively.
The No. 7 and No. 8 seeds need one win to advance in the play-in round. The No. 9 and No. 10 seeds require two victories: one over the other and another over the loser of the seven-eight matchup.
It’s possible that Saturday’s matchup for the Warriors and Lakers is a play-in preview.
The Lakers, like the Warriors, have been mired by inconsistency, riding a parallel path with their Northern California counterparts. The teams have split their first two meetings this season, both at Chase Center and of differing varieties. The Warriors lost the first matchup in double overtime and won the second one by blowout.
The Lakers’ LeBron James didn’t play the second game.
Kerr mentioned pregame Wednesday that the Warriors are “dying to move up” as far as they can. The key, per rookie big man Trayce JacksonDavis — cliche as it may be: “We’ve got to take it one day at a time. That starts in L.A. on Saturday.”