The Golden State Warriors have just nine wins, and they’re theoretically already out of the playoffs race, even in a weaker-than-expected Western Conference.
Just a little bit longer. The Golden State Warriors needed to hang on just a little bit longer.
With D’Angelo Russell on their roster, the Warriors are a top-eight team in the West. Sadly, a combination of a shoulder injury and a foot injury has caused Russell to sit out almost a month this season.
Russell’s absence combined with Klay Thompson’s and Stephen Curry’s to really hamper the Warriors in just about every on-court area. Those are three of the team’s four highest-paid players, and for the most part, they’ve struggled to either get on or stay on the court.
However, the Warriors are getting Russell back against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Dubs will take on the Grizzlies later tonight, which should hopefully be the team’s tenth victory of the season. Russell will play for the first time since December 28.
The Warriors have played 40 games. Curry has missed 36, Thompson has yet to play and Russell has missed spurts of six games, nine games and three games, resulting in a total of 18 games missed.
The Warriors, this season, are 9-31.
Surprisingly, had they won a few more games, the Dubs would still be in the playoff race.
The top seven seed in the Western Conference all have solid records with the Thunder coming in at No. 7 with 22 wins and 17 losses. Eighth, however, is the Grizzlies, who are currently 17-22. The Warriors are 8.5 games behind them.
Had Golden State just been near the 14th-seeded Pelicans and brought back a healthy Russell, they could’ve stayed in the mix for that last seed until late in the season. Curry and Thompson could return, and Golden State could go on a winning streak to end the season.
That’s just not the reality as hand, yet it could’ve so easily been.