The Warriors clinched a playoff berth with Saturday’s victory over Utah, guaranteeing that the NBA Playoffs will take place at Chase Center for the first time ever.
Heading into Wednesday’s slate of NBA games, the Warriors are in third place in the West, a game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks, with three games left in the regular season. Following the conclusion of the regular season on Sunday, the Dubs will have nearly a full week before beginning their playoff run, as their first postseason game will be played on either April 16 or 17.
Who the Warriors play in that first playoff game and where they will play it … that’s yet to be determined, but keep reading to figure out all the possibilities.
What's Confirmed in the West
- Phoenix has secured the No. 1 seed in the West with the league’s best record (63-16)
- Memphis has clinched the No. 2 seed in the West.
- The Warriors, Dallas and Utah have secured playoff spots, but their playoff seed is yet to be finalized.
- Either Denver or Minnesota will claim the final guaranteed playoff spot.
- The Clippers, Pelicans and Spurs will be joined in the play-in tournament by either Minnesota or Denver. The results of the play-in tournament will determine the 7th and 8th playoff seeds in the West.
What's Confirmed in the East
- The six guaranteed playoff spots are claimed by Miami, Boston, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Toronto and Chicago, but no team has solidified their playoff seeding just yet.
- Cleveland, Brooklyn, Atlanta and Charlotte will compete in the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament, which will determine the 7th and 8th playoff seeds in the East.
Where Will the Warriors Finish?
The short answer is the Warriors can finish anywhere between third and fifth place. The Dubs’ magic number to clinch the third seed in the West is 3, meaning a combination of three Warriors wins and Mavericks losses will secure third place for the Dubs. Both Golden State and Dallas have three remaining games in the regular season.
Securing the third seed won’t happen before Friday, but the Warriors can clinch a top-four finish with either one more win, one more Utah loss or two more Dallas wins. That’s significant because that would guarantee home court advantage for the Dubs in their first-round playoff series.
And while a fifth-place finish is still technically possible, there’s only one scenario in which that would play out. More on that below.
Potential Tie-Breaker Scenarios
In terms of the Warriors’ playoff seeding, the only tie-breaking scenarios that could potentially be in play would involve the Mavericks and/or Jazz. By virtue of head-to-head record, the Warriors own a potential tie-breaker with Utah (3-1) but lose the potential tie-breaker with Dallas (1-3). And if the Warriors, Mavericks and Jazz all finished the regular season with identical records – which can only happen if the Dubs lose out, Utah wins out and Dallas goes 1-2 the rest of the way – then Utah would take the No. 3 seed by virtue of winning their division, and Dallas would be the No. 4 seed due to the head-to-head record tiebreaker. That is the only scenario in which the Dubs finish with the No. 5 seed in the playoffs.
Potential First Round Playoff Opponents
How the final five days of the regular season play out will ultimately determine the Warriors’ first round playoff opponent, but it’s possible the Dubs end up taking on Denver, Utah, Minnesota or Dallas in the first round.
The only scenario in which the Warriors face Dallas in the first round is if the Warriors, Mavericks and Jazz each finish the season at 50-32. Likewise, the Warriors could face the Timberwolves in the first round if the Dubs maintain the third seed, Minnesota wins their final two games and Denver loses their final two games of the season.
One game can derail either of those two scenarios, and all other possible outcomes has the Dubs being the third or fourth seed taking on either the Jazz or Nuggets in the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs, with the series tipping off at Chase Center in about a week and a half.
Remaining Regular Season Schedule
The Warriors close out the regular season with a home game vs. the Lakers on Thursday and back-to-back road dates in San Antonio and New Orleans. It’s possible that the Dubs’ playoff positioning is affected by each of these matchups, and the same can be said for every regular season game remaining for Dallas, Utah, Denver and Minnesota.
Enjoy the ride, Dub Nation!
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April 07, 2022 at 06:11AM
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Scoreboard Watching: Warriors’ Playoff Spot Clinched, Now What? - NBA.com
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