Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
By defeating the injury depleted San Antonio Spurs 116-106 on Monday night, the Golden State Warriors helped themselves immensely in the Western Conference playoff race.
Heading into the night, the Warriors found themselves in seventh place in the conference standings, just a tiebreaker behind the Houston Rockets. It was a place that they had not recently been and did not want to be because of the chance of having to play the Spurs or dropping all the way to the eighth seed and having to play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
But with a little help from the Phoenix Suns, who took care of the Rockets, and a win over the Spurs, Golden State once again controls their own destiny. With a 46-35 record, they now lead Houston by a full game with one regular season game remaining. On the final Wednesday of the season, a Golden State road win against the Portland Trail Blazers or a Rockets loss to the Los Angeles Lakers is all that is stopping the Warriors from wrapping up the all too critical sixth seed.
By winning the sixth seed, the Warriors will most likely play a banged up Denver Nuggets team instead of the defending conference champion Thunder or a Spurs team who they have not defeated on the road in Tim Duncan‘s entire career. There is also a very, very slim chance that the Warriors could draw the Los Angeles Clippers instead, who Golden State went 3-1 against during the regular season.
Golden State must seal the deal in Portland on Wednesday night and head into the playoffs with momentum, confidence, and a favorable first round matchup.
You can follow Rich Peters on twitter @Tricky_Roma.
