The Golden State Warriors concluded an impressive seven-game home-stand on Thursday night, with a win over the Toronto Raptors leaving them with a 6-1 record as they retain hold of the sixth-seed in the Western Conference.
While it's hard to draw any negatives from the home-stand, recent results have only furthered the pain of Golden State's one blemish. Monday's loss to the short-handed Denver Nuggets was incredibly disappointing, with the visitors claiming a 114-105 victory despite the absence of 3x MVP Nikola Jokic and star guard Jamal Murray.
The Warriors loss to the Nuggets has become more frustrating
The Nuggets may have found the spirit and grit to record an impressive win over the Warriors, but they haven't been able to overcome the absence of Jokic and Murray in their two most recent games against the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers.
Back-to-back losses means the Nuggets have moved to a 44-27 record, placing them fourth in the West and 2.5 games ahead of the Warriors. Had Golden State taken care of business on Monday night, there would be just a 1.5 game difference with a chance to shorten that to one on Saturday against the Atlanta Hawks.
Instead, that 2.5 game gap still seems significant this late in the season, particularly when the Nuggets hold the season tie-break over the Warriors regardless of the result between the two teams on April 4.
Golden State are still closing in on the fifth-seed thanks to a 128-108 victory for the L.A Clippers over the Memphis Grizzlies at the Intuit Dome on Friday night. A win over the Hawks would pull the Warriors within a game of the Grizzlies, though a defeat would leave them with the same amount of losses as the Clippers who also hold the season tie-break.
Finishing seventh might not actually be a huge disaster, with the Houston Rockets having solidified their hold on the two-seed with a 102-98 victory over the Miami Heat on Friday. Golden State may fancy themselves against the Rockets in a seven-game series, but you also don't want to flirt with the Play-In Tournament where two poor games could suddenly end your season.
The Minnesota Timberwolves avenged their loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday with a dominant 134-93 victory in their return matchup, leaving them just one game behind Golden State in the fight for a top six spot.
The Warriors will have to win at least Saturday's game without superstar guard Stephen Curry, with the 2x MVP to be re-evaluated on Monday after suffering a pelvic contusion during the third-quarter of Thursday's win over the Toronto Raptors.