Golden State Warriors face defining five-game stretch over next 10 days
Wins over the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets have lifted the Golden State Warriors back towards a .500 record, with an important five-game stretch set to define their standing within the Western Conference.
The Warriors are desperately trying to fight themselves out of an early season hole, moving to and 8-9 record as they sit 11th in the conference. Fortunately, they now have a major opportunity to make a decisive move if good enough.
Five straight games against Western Conference rivals will provide a stern litmus test as to whether the Golden State Warriors remain championship contenders.
Four of Golden State’s next five games are against teams directly above them — the seventh seed Los Angeles Clippers, the eighth seed New Orleans Pelicans, the ninth seed Dallas Mavericks, and the tenth seed Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Warriors also host the surprise packet of the season, the Utah Jazz, at Chase Center on Friday night. Expected to be cellar-dwellers at the bottom of the West standings, the Jazz shockingly sit top as we near the quarter mark of the season.
The five-game stretch begins tonight as the Warriors face the Pelicans on the second night of a back-to-back — a matchup New Orleans will rightfully start favourite in. They then head back home to take on the Clippers on Wednesday followed by the Jazz, before hitting the road again for games against the Timberwolves and Mavericks on Sunday and Tuesday respectively.
Nothing less than a 3-2 record will suffice, even if each matchup appears as a genuine 50-50. That would take the Warriors to 11-11 on the season, and although disappointing, would at least be something on which to build off.
However, it could also take two vastly different directions as well — four or five wins would take Golden State to two or three games above .500 and likely in the West’s top seven. More than that, it could signify their return to genuine contention.
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From a pessimists view, they could easily lose four or five which would only heap more undeniable pressure on the franchise. At that point, their two-timeline plan may be on the brink of unrecoverable disaster.