OAKLAND - On a night the Warriors, their fans, and the city of Oakland bid adieu to the last regular season game at Oracle Arena, Golden State overwhelmed the LA Clippers 131-104, clad in 'We Believe' garb, earning the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
In the midst of the demolition of their former rivals from Southern California, Golden State may have opened the door for another chapter in the rivalry.
With the win, the Warriors pushed the Clippers to the eighth seed. If Los Angeles loses its final game of the season against the Jazz, the Spurs lose to the Mavericks, and and the Oklahoma City Thunder wins at least one of their next two games, the Clippers will be right back in Oakland to start a first-round matchup at Oracle.
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"I'd absolutely like to play here again," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "If we play them again, it's probably a good thing."
For much of the season, the Clippers have been a team, despite roster setbacks, that hasn't gone away. Following an early season run, when LA briefly reached the No. 1 seed in the conference, the team lost seven of their next nine games, even traded leading scorer Tobias Harris at the deadline. Still, the team regrouped, earning a playoff spot March 31.
"It's a good basketball team," Warriors forward Draymond Green said. "They play well together all year. Even with the team trading Tobias, they've continued to keep it together. They know their roles and they play their roles well."
Now, with their first playoff opponent still uncertain, the Clippers don't seem to have a preference.
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"The stakes for us is getting to a different seed, I guess," Rivers said. "I don't put as much into that as everyone else. If you want to win, you've got to play somebody at some point and there's no dodging. I just want to be healthy and playing great in the playoffs. Do we want to play the Warriors in the playoffs? Yes. Do we want to do it in the first round? Probably not. But you got to take it when you get it."
"We don't care who we play, so there's no incentive," Clippers guard Lou Williams. "We're not scared of anybody."
Most intriguing about the potential matchup with the Clippers is the relatively recent history the two teams share. Five years ago, the two teams dueled in an epic seven-game series. It was the Clippers who the Warriors strived to beat in 2013 on Christmas Day, when the two teams got into it. It was the Clippers, led by Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, who provided a stage for Green, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to come into their own. And it was the Clippers, who won the series in the final moments of Game 7, who set the stage for the Warriors' current run.
"It made us hungry for more," Thompson said. "Especially after regressing the year before, not getting past the first round, it made us hungry for more."
While the matchup with the Clippers will certainly entertain and bring a level of nostalgia, it's not a guarantee. The Thunder, who beat the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday night, have won their last three games. Meanwhile, the Spurs, who also won Sunday night, are tied for the eighth seed with LA.
"I know you guys have to ask these questions and then I have to answer them without giving an answer - so the song and dance that we have to go through," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "I can't say who we'd rather play. I do know that all three teams that are possibilities are all playing at a real high level. This is not going to be your typical 1-8 matchup."
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Golden State, like coach Kerr, isn't going to give any indications of their first round team preference. However, Stephen Curry may have a preference for time spent on a plane.
"If you're looking for something that separates the teams on the court we'll be ready for anybody but nobody likes to be on a plane for longer than they need to."