What's at stake for the Warriors?

Team preps for regular season finale Sunday

At multiple points in the past couple weeks, the Warriors have peered through a window into the top of the play-in bracket, only for it to quickly slam shut.

Steve Kerr admitted that losing in Dallas at the buzzer on April 5 “shifted things” for the Warriors. But even after that defeat, Golden State ripped off three straight wins to once again have the inside track at the eighth seed.

A victory over the Pelicans on Friday night would've put the Warriors in pole position for the eighth seed — a coveted outcome because they'd have two chances to win one game. Instead, New Orleans hit 20 of their 38 attempts from 3-point land to darken the mood again at 1 Warriors Way.

“It stings a lot,” Klay Thompson said of the loss that fractions their chances at avoiding the 9/10 play-in round.

Entering the regular season finale Sunday, the new reality is much more calcified for the Warriors. To escape the lower tier play-in round, they must beat the Jazz and get help via losses from both the Lakers and Kings.

That long-shot scenario — PlayoffStatus.com gives it a 5% chance to occur — begins with the Warriors playing an actual basketball game against Utah in the Chase Center. The Warriors won't know their exact seeding fate before tip-off, but it seems like they'll be operating as if they don't care. When asked if he'd be resting players in the regular season finale, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr tipped his hand.

“Oh, hell yeah,” Kerr said. Even though the Warriors still have an outside chance at that eighth seed, their priorities have shifted once again.

“I mean, you prefer to stay at home, but if you look at what we're facing, it's a gauntlet,” Kerr said. “You've got to play two playin games, and if you can win those two, then you've got a Game 1 48 hours after that. I'm much more interested in our ability to be ready for next week. But we've got to wait and see how everything shakes out.”

The Warriors have essentially a coin-flip chance at either the ninth or 10th seed, per PlayoffStatus.com. If they're the 10th seed, they'll have to beat either the Kings or Lakers on the road to earn the right to travel to whoever lost the upper tier play-in matchup. It would be two games in three days, with transit in the middle.

That, or some variation of it, is the gauntlet Kerr alluded to. It's the main reason why getting veterans rest in the finale will take priority.