Warriors grapple with play-in fate after falling to 9th place

SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors lost two “winnable” games, to use Steve Kerr’s words. As a consequence, they would now have to win two much tougher ones to escape the play-in.

Back-to-back losses to the Jazz and Bulls — 48 wins between them — dropped the Warriors a game below .500 and a half-game back of the surging LA Clippers, who don’t look poised to relinquish the No. 8 seed now that they have overtaken the B-Dubs with 17 games left.

What does the “B” stand for? Take your pick: Beaten-up? Beleaguered? B-team?

Either way, between the state of the Warriors’ roster and the results the past two nights, it doesn’t bode well for their chances of avoiding that dreaded 9–10 play-in game and the difficult path that accompanies it.

“It’s a big deal,” Kerr emphasized before their 130–124 overtime loss to the Bulls on Tuesday. “There’s a reason the league did that. Seven (or) eight, you get two cracks at it. Huge advantage. It’s definitely a focus of ours.”

The Warriors would have loved to avoid the play-in entirely. They have the second-oldest roster in the NBA — only younger than the Lakers — and are currently among its most-injured.

That was pretty much off the table when Steph Curry’s right knee flared up at the end of January. Kerr recently acknowledged they were “destined” for the play-in.

The Warriors emerged from the play-in last year and upset the Rockets in the first round. As the No. 7 seed, they only had to beat the Grizzlies at home to get their chance against the No. 2 team in the West.

It’s more complicated if they aren’t able to climb above ninth.

“I mean, it’s the difference between having to win one game versus having to win two games,” said Pat Spencer, who scored 17 off the bench in the loss to Chicago. “You’ve gotta be realistic: It’s much easier getting into that 7–8 game than 9–10.”

Curry could not play another minute and the Warriors would still be highly unlikely to fall beyond 10th and into the clump of tanking teams below them. But if they’re not able to surpass either the Clippers (32–32) or Suns (38–27), that would set them up with a do-or-die date with the Trail Blazers (31–35), currently 1.5 games back in 10th.

That merely sets up another win-or-go-home game. Whoever prevails from the 9/10 game must then hit the road to play the loser of the 7/8 matchup, which takes place a night earlier, too.

All that for the right to play the No. 1 seed, likely the defending champion Thunder.

No wonder why only four teams have even advanced out of the play-in from the No. 9–10 game since the NBA adopted the current format in 2021. None has ever won its first-round matchup.

“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves,” Gary Payton II said. “… We’ve just got to finish strong and find our way back up to the 8 or 7.”

They made the task harder on themselves by letting games against lesser opponents like the Jazz and Bulls slip away. Already missing most of its top players, Utah sat its remaining leading scorers in crunch time of a 119–116 loss. The Warriors were at the free throw line with the lead in the final moments of regulation against the Bulls and couldn’t put them away.

Payton chalked up the losses to “little mental breakdowns.” Spencer thought the Warriors were “defensively, a little passive.” Kerr was fine with their end-of-game execution.

“Shots didn’t go down,” he said. “We didn’t score.” 

Now, the Warriors have a losing record for the first time since they were 14–15 on Dec. 20. They still have home games left against the Nets, Wizards and Kings. They have two more on the road at Washington and Sacramento. And Game 82 — April 12 in Inglewood — which looks more important now than ever.

“You’ve got to finish,” Kerr said. “And we haven’t finished either of the past two nights.”

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters