The Golden State Warriors could have a hand in their play-in opponent when they wrap up the NBA regular season on the road Sunday night against one of the possibilities, the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Warriors (37-44) are assured of a 10th-place finish in the Western Conference, meaning they will open the play-in on the road against the No. 9 seed on Wednesday. The loser of that game will see its season come to an end.
The Clippers (41-40) will take the court Sunday tied with the Portland Trail Blazers for eighth place in the West, with the Trail Blazers holding the tiebreaker advantage by virtue of having won the season series 3-1.
The No. 8 seed will face seventh-place Phoenix in Arizona on Tuesday, with the winner earning the seventh playoff position.
One advantage the No. 8 team has over the team below it is that it must be beaten twice in a row in order to be denied a playoff berth.
As it stands now, the Clippers would open the play-in at home against the Warriors, with the winner facing the 7-8 loser, on the road, with the No. 8 playoff spot — and a first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder — on the line.
The Clippers, who were a game ahead of the Trail Blazers before losing in Portland on Friday, must beat the Warriors on Sunday and have the Sacramento Kings win at Portland in a game that tips off at the same time in order to avoid the 9-10 matchup.
A Warriors win over the Clippers would assure a rematch on Wednesday. The Clippers have won two of the three previous meetings, including 103-102 at home on Jan. 5.
Golden State gave its play-in opponent a sneak peek at its likely lineup Friday night in Sacramento when it had Stephen Curry, Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis all together for the first time since Porzingis was acquired from the Atlanta Hawks in February.
It didn’t go well. Curry and Porzingis combined for just 22 points on 7-for-20 shooting in a 124-118 defeat.
Curry, who missed 27 straight games bridging February and April with a sore right knee, noted he and his mates have some work to do before Wednesday’s do-or-die play-in game.
“We have one game,” he assured reporters after the Sacramento loss, “to find some patterns, some good chemistry, knowing that the outcome (Sunday) really doesn’t matter.”
Based on regular-season results, the Warriors wouldn’t figure to have a preference for their play-in opponent. They went 1-3 against the Trail Blazers.
The good news for the Clippers in Portland on Friday was that oft-injured Kawhi Leonard finished the game healthy. He had 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists in 37 minutes in the loss.
Leonard averaged 23.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in the two earlier wins over the Warriors.
Despite his team losing control of its own destiny in terms of the final standings, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue wasn’t conceding anything after Friday’s disappointment.
“It’s not over,” Lue insisted to the media. “We got to do it the Clippers way. The hard way, every time. Never easy.”
