The Warriors entered Saturday’s game against the Utah Jazz in the third spot in the Western Conference playoff picture, but only a half-game ahead of the Mavericks and two games ahead of the fifth-place Jazz for home-court advantage.
For Kevon Looney, home-court advantage is important, but seeding isn’t everything. The Warriors head into the month of April having dropped seven of eight and will play the rest of the season without Steph Curry.
“We haven’t as a team talked about seeding as much,” Looney said on Dubs Talk. “We’re really trying to figure our group out together and get our chemistry back. We’ve got a lot of moving parts with the lineups. People coming in and people going out. So we really haven’t talked much about seeding, but we want to get the three seed, if not the two.”
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Looney emphasized that maintaining at least the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the first round is something that the Warriors are “fighting for.”
“But if we don’t get it we’re not like, ‘Aw man, we messed up our season,’” Looney said. “But we would like to finish as high as possible. We just want to have momentum and be on the right page when we go into the playoffs.”
The Warriors have stayed at or near the top of the playoff picture in the West all season long, but their recent slide – coupled with Curry’s injury – has raised questions and concerns heading into the postseason, and it may cost them a more favorable matchup in the first round.
Related: Looney not concerned about Warriors' difficult stretch run
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Looney, however, said the focus remains on making sure the roster is as cohesive as possible despite the struggles and lineup changes.
“We have guys who have a lot of experience, but as a group I wouldn’t say we have experienced together like those teams in the past,” Looney said. “We have a lot of new players. So we’re just trying to build that chemistry, learn from the adversity that we’ve been dealing with and get everybody on the same page. I think we have a chance to do great things in the playoffs.”