The Warriors holding off the Mavs for the 8th seed won’t be easy
Right now, the Golden State Warriors are sitting in the 8th spot in the West, but they may have an upward battle to fend off the Dallas Mavericks.
The Golden State Warriors have lost two straight games, and they’ve both been to inferior opponents.
First, the Dubs lost after entering the fourth quarter with the lead against the Magic. Then, they lost despite having the league with minutes left against the Hornets on a buzzer-beater against the Hornets.
The Warriors could’ve easily been 18-13, and now, they’re 16-15. With the Mavericks destroying the Grizzlies, they’re slowly climbing in the rankings after a disappointing start to the season. Both the Mavericks and Nuggets have not been great so far this season.
Within the last few weeks, both the Mavs and Nuggets have been playing much better. The Nuggets have surged ahead of the Warriors with the Mavs not close behind. Dallas is a game behind Golden State.
The Warriors need to pick up the pace.
The team did have the toughest schedule in the league through their first 20 games, and with Stephen Curry averaging over 30 points per game, they’ve done well enough to get to where they are.
With Luka Doncic hitting stride and Tim Hardaway Jr. becoming a bigger part of the offense, Dallas is getting more lethal. A team we saw push the superstar duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to the brink of elimination, the Mavericks have what it takes to rattle off ten wins in a row.
Golden State has a playoff-contending team.
With play-in games on the schedule, it’s possible that even if the Warriors slip out of the eighth spot in the West that they’ll have a chance at making a postseason run. All we need to see is the Warriors given a chance in the playoffs.
The Warriors will head home after they take on the Knicks and Pacers.
But they’ll get just one game at home until they have a road trip on the West Coast against the Lakers, Trail Blazers, and Suns. Counting their last two road losses, the Warriors will have played seven of their eight most recent games on the road. That’s brutal, and it’s hurt their record.
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With Curry expected to be back against the Knicks, the Dubs should be able to get back to playing their game, and they’ll need to as teams are starting to march up the Western Conference leaderboards.