The race for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoff race will come down to the last day of the 2021-22 regular season, with the Warriors needing a win over the New Orleans Pelicans or a loss by the Dallas Mavericks to lock up the higher seed.
The Warriors held off the shorthanded San Antonio Spurs for a 100-94 win on Saturday at AT&T Center, giving them a one-game lead over the Mavericks heading into Sunday.
The Mavericks (51-30) hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Warriors (52-29), so if Golden State loses Sunday while Dallas beats the Spurs, Luka Doncic and Co. would become the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
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While the Warriors and Mavericks are fighting for the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets are battling to see which team will be the No. 5 seed, with the other becoming the No. 6 seed. Both teams enter Sunday's finale with identical 48-33 records. Utah holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Denver hosts the depleted Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday while the Jazz are in Portland to take on the rebuilding Trail Blazers.
The Warriors know they will have home-court advantage in the first round against either the Jazz or Nuggets, but for the moment, that's all they know.
Prior to Saturday's game against the Spurs, Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters in San Antonio that the team isn't concerned that they don't know their opponent yet.
Golden State Warriors
"The main thing is we've clinched homecourt for the first round, which is a big deal," Kerr said. "Our scouts and video guys are already putting together reports and we'll just continue to worry about ourselves for now, and we'll be very well prepared the minute we find out who our opponent is and we'll dive right in at that point."
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The Warriors won three of their four meetings with the Jazz this season and Utah is in a tailspin as the season winds down. Denver took three of four from the Warriors this season and they have a distinct advantage in the middle with NBA MVP frontrunner Nikola Jokic. The Warriors hope that Steph Curry will be able to return from a sprained left foot in time for Game 1 of the first round next Saturday or Sunday.
For now, the Warriors can't look ahead to next weekend. They first need to take care of business in New Orleans on Sunday.