Stephen Curry's season-high 56 points led the Golden State Warriors to a comeback victory over the Orlando Magic on Thursday, with a seventh win in the last eight games pushing the franchise up to the seventh-seed in the Western Conference standings.
With the Minnesota Timberwolves falling to the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena later in the night, the Warriors surpassed their West rival into seventh and now sit just half a game again from the L.A. Clippers as the sixth-seed.
Anthony Edwards was suspended after a technical against the Lakers
Given there's just over 20 games remaining and only two games between the sixth-seed Clippers and 10th-seed Sacramento Kings, every game means that little bit more in the race to avoid the Play-In Tournament.
While the Timberwolves should enter Utah as favorites against the Jazz in the second night of a back-to-back on Friday, they will have to complete the mission without superstar guard Anthony Edwards.
The former number one overall pick was ejected from Thursday's game after a pair of technical fouls, and has now reached the limit of 16 on the season before receiving a mandatory suspension that will take place unless one of the technicals is rescinded.
Needless to say an upset loss for Minnesota in Utah would do wonders for Golden State's playoff chances, particularly given they themselves suffered a shock defeat against the Jazz just prior to the trade deadline after leading by 11 with under three minutes remaining.
While the Clippers currently have hold of the all important sixth-seed, it might actually be the Timberwolves who are the Warriors' biggest competitor for that position. Minnesota are the only Western Conference team with a harder remaining schedule than Golden State, while the Clippers have the fifth-most difficult schedule in the league.
The Warriors assurance of at least making the Play-In Tournament took another step on Thursday, with their win and another horror loss for the 11th-seed Phoenix Suns widening the gap between the pacific rivals to five games. The Suns lost at home to the lowly New Orleans Pelicans, with 64 combined points from Devin Booker and Kevin Durant not enough as Zion Williamson recorded a 27-point triple-double.
Given the disaster the Suns find themselves in and their own red-hot form, the Warriors should only be focused on one thing -- the teams above them and ensuring they secure a playoff spot without the need of the Play-In.