Warriors locked into West play-in tournament after Suns beat Clippers

Warriors locked into West play-in tournament after Suns beat Clippers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors’ ambitious goal of reaching the Western Conference’s No. 6 officially ended Wednesday night when the Phoenix Suns beat the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers 124-108 at Crypto.com Arena.

Golden State (44-35) now is locked into the Western Conference Play-In Tournament, though they still have a chance to improve their seeding from No. 10, where they currently sit.

The Los Angeles Lakers (45-35) also are locked into the play-in tournament by virtue of the Suns’ win over the Clippers.

The Warriors now are two-and-a-half games behind the No. 7 seeded Suns, who possess the head-to-head tiebreaker, so even if they finish with identical 47-35 records, Golden State wouldn’t be able to surpass Phoenix in the standings.

Entering Thursday’s road game against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Warriors trail the Lakers by half a game and trail the Sacramento Kings by one full game.

While the Warriors are heavy favorites to beat the Trail Blazers at Moda Center, the Kings have a tough matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans, who have won the previous four matchups against Sacramento this season. And the Lakers are idle Thursday.

So the Warriors have a chance to pull into a three-way tie record-wise with the Lakers and Kings heading into Friday, when all three teams are in action.

The Warriors hold the tiebreaker over the Lakers, while the Kings hold the tiebreakers over both the Warriors and Lakers.

The battle for play-in tournament positioning is coming down to the wire, with every game carrying immense meaning.

But for now, the Warriors know that even if they win out, they can’t climb into the top six in the West to guarantee a first-round NBA playoff series.

They are going to have to win one or two single-elimination play-in games in order to secure a first-round series.

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