The NBA Playoff race is more interesting than ever this season. A fully loaded schedule has teams bumping each other out of spots each night and the Golden State Warriors have been jockeying for position all year long.
In order to avoid messing with next season’s schedule, the NBA ramped up the action and crammed a 72-game season into a roughly six-month stretch. As a consequence, we’re seeing more stars fall with injury as the league opens up completely.
There is still a chance the Golden State Warriors can reach the playoffs this season. Here are the three keys to accomplishing this.
The crown is there for the taking. The top seeds in each conference hold slim advantages while the four-through-nine seed in the East is separated by just three games. As for the West, the Dubs sit in 10th place with three games between them and the eight-seeded Memphis Grizzlies.
However, all that matters is remaining in the top 10. In doing so, the Dubs punch their ticket to the play-in tournament where consecutive wins would push them into the playoff picture. As of now, they hold a two-game lead over the New Orleans Pelicans who are competing for the final play-in spot.
If the Warriors truly do want to reach the playoffs, they’ll have to capitalize on these three keys.