Oddly, this is a position the Golden State Warriors have been in before. Prior to the play-in tournament game against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Warriors played in what felt like a must-win game to decide their play-in seeding.
That game was against the Grizzlies, and the Warriors defeat Memphis with relative ease. However, the thrill with these play-in tournament games is that it’s a winner-take-all one-game event, so what Golden State did a week ago doesn’t matter now.
The Golden State Warriors lost in a gritty, toe-to-toe battle to the Los Angeles Lakers and now have to take on the Memphis Grizzlies.
Now, in the last of the four play-in games, the Warriors will potentially be on the verge of elimination. They will enter as the favorite though, but against Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., they’ll need to put on a show to get into the actual playoffs.
Securing that bid is no easy feat.
With Stephen Curry still playing lights out, the Warriors should be able to get him hefty minutes and get by onto the next round. That said, let’s dive into three bold predictions for the two team’s second matchup in the past week.