How many more wins do Golden State Warriors need to clinch a Play-In Tournament spot?
With 14 games remaining in the regular season, if the Golden State Warriors have any hopes of making tshe NBA Playoffs, it’s looking more and more as if their path is going to lead through the Western Conference Play-In Tournament. Currently the 10th seed in the West standings, the Warriors don’t have much wiggle room down the stretch.
Heading into the final stretch of the season, let’s explore how many more wins the Warriors may need in order to clinch their spot in the Play-In Tournament.
The Golden State Warriors margin for error
With how the Houston Rockets have played recently, the Warriors may not have much of a margin for error. However, even with a three-game lead over the Rockets, Golden State may just have enough breathing room where they could avoid a potential disaster down the stretch. The Rockets would have to play close to perfect basketball over the next 2-3 weeks in order to have a chance to catch the Warriors. Even then, it wouldn’t be a guarantee that they would.
Realistically speaking, if the Warriors can get to 43 wins, that may be enough to clinch a spot in the Play-In Tournament. If the Warriors get to 43 wins, that means the Rockets would have to close the season 11-3 in their final 14 games to overtake them. That simply doesn’t seem likely. Even though the Rockets have won six games in a row, I can’t imagine that happening.
To get to 43 wins, the Warriors only have to go 7-7 over their last 14 games. Considering the Warriors are 5-5 in their last 10, that doesn’t seem all that difficult for them to pull off.
There aren’t many who believe the Warriors will be able to make much noise even if they sneak into the postseason but if they can find a way to avoid the Denver Nuggets in a potential first-round series, they’re going to have a puncher’s shot to make some noise. But before they even get there, it appears they’re going to have to win their way into the Play-In Tournament and then into the official playoff field.
It could prove to be a tall task but if there’s any team that can do it, it’s going to be the veteran-laden and championship-proven Warriors.
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