Golden State Warriors set to meet San Antonio Spurs in first round

It’s decided: the Golden State Warriors will face the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs.

After a handful of highly contested basketball games Wednesday evening, the San Antonio Spurs came out with the seventh seed in the Western Conference, thereby matching them up with the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors in the first round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs.

And with that, the NBA regular season ends, and everyone’s focus shifts to the start of the postseason.

Warriors fans had their attention split between three contests on Wednesday, each holding a high level of significance to Golden State’s first round fate: the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. the Memphis Grizzlies game, the Minnesota Timberwolves vs. the Denver Nuggets game and the New Orleans Pelicans vs. the San Antonio Spurs game.

Depending on the outcome of each of those three contests, the Warriors had six different possibilities to help determine four different possible first round opponents:

1. In the case of an OKC win and a Nuggets win, the Warriors would have faced the Nuggets
2. Had the Grizz won and the Spurs won, the Warriors would have hosted the Pelicans
3. Should have OKC, the Spurs and Timberwolves won, the Warriors would have faced Minny
4. Had the Grizz, the Pelicans and the Wolves won: the Warriors would have played the Wolves, as well
5. In the case of a Grizz win, a Pelicans win and a Nuggets win: the Warriors would have hosted the Spurs
6. What ended up happening was an OKC win, a Pelicans win and a Wolves win, which resulted in the Warriors matching up with San Antonio

The Pelicans EASILY put the Spurs away, winning the game 122-98. New Orleans came up big in both the second and the fourth, keeping them away from a first round matchup with the Dubs.

Despite a 77-57 lead at halftime, the Thunder allowed the Grizz to come back to within nine at the start of the fourth. Fortunately, OKC was successful in holding Memphis off for the 137-123 victory, opening the door for a possible Warriors/Nuggets first round.

Thus, everything fell to the Minny/Denver game, which went into overtime after ending 101-101 in regulation. Both teams traded baskets well into the extra quarter, but after a few clutch stops from Taj Gibson and a couple buckets from Jimmy Butler and Andrew Wiggins, the Wolves came out on top to bounce the Nuggets right out of the playoffs.

Next: 2017-18 Golden State Warriors NBA Playoffs Gift Guide

Considering how much Golden State has struggled in the second half of the season, it remains to be seen whether a Stephen Curry-less Warriors will have trouble against a Kawhi Leonard-less Spurs.