While fighting for playoff position, the Golden State Warriors suffered a gut-punching loss at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs. Following this last-second defeat, one analyst reflected on what it could mean for the team heading into the postseason.
While Golden State is looking to build momentum into the postseason, the Spurs are a team not competing for much at this point in the year. Despite this, they still managed to get one over on Steph Curry and company on their home floor. Veteran forward Harrison Barnes, a player the Warriors know all too well, managed to get a game-winning shot to fall over Jimmy Butler as time expired.
With this loss, the Warriors now find themselves in a three-way tie for sixth place in the Western Conference. Even though they’ve been one of the hotter teams in the NBA over the past few months, Nick Wright thinks one potential contender should be eyeing Golden State in round one.
Golden State Warriors Dubbed Easier Playoff Matchup for LA Lakers
Seeing that the Western Conference standings are still air-tight, there is no telling what playoff matchups will look like. Aside from the Warriors, the LA Lakers are another team who are still jockeying for positioning with a handful of games to go. Currently, the Lakers hold a one-game lead over the Denver Nuggets and LA Clippers for third place in the Western Conference.
Nick Wright’s Comments
During Friday’s episode of his What’s Wright? podcast, FS1’s Nick Wright touched on the Lakers’ possible matchups in the first round of the playoffs. He feels the Golden State Warriors loss to the Spurs is an indicator of why LA should want to face them instead of a team like the Clippers.
“Golden State reminded you last night, yeah we can beat anybody, but we can lose to anybody in big spots. That’s a terrible loss. If I’m the Lakers, I would rather play Golden State than play the Clippers,” Wright said.
The Warriors and Lakers are two teams who went through major changes at the trade deadline, acquiring Jimmy Butler and Luka Doncic respectively. Making such a home run move mid-season would typically hurt their chances of contending in the eyes of analysts, but that isn’t the case here. Both squads have managed to gracefully integrate their new stars, becoming dark horse playoff threats in the process.
Wright isn’t wrong about the Warriors suffering a bad loss to the Spurs, but he is overlooking one thing. Golden State and LA squared off last week, and it was Curry and the Warriors who walked away victorious. Given the history of Curry and LeBron James, another playoff showdown would be nothing short of a classic. Only time will tell how the Western Conference playoff picture will unfold and if these new-look squads will have to square off with one another.
