Stephen Curry sounds defeated following Warriors' latest loss
If last year's Lakers are proof, a play-in team can make a deep postseason run. That said, the chances of this year's Warriors replicating those Lakers are getting bleaker by the day, and Stephen Curry knows it.
After Golden State's 119-112 loss to the Knicks on Monday night, Curry conceded that his 10th-seeded squad could climb to the sixth seed, avoid the play-in scenario and still go home early. That's how dejected Curry sounded while talking to reporters after the loss.
"Maybe a week or two ago, the sixth seed was the motivation," Curry said. "Right now, though, I could care less about where you're at.
"It's just the consistency of how we're playing. That's the most important thing because, honestly, who cares what seed you are if you're going to play like we did tonight? Six, seven, eight, nine, 10 — whatever it is, it doesn't matter. You're not going to get very far."
With 15 games left in their season, the Warriors are mathematically still in contention for the coveted sixth seed, sitting four games behind the No. 6 seed Kings. However, their chances of making all that ground seem improbable, especially with the Suns, Mavericks and Lakers jostling for seedings.
It's worth noting that the Warriors have the third-easiest strength of schedule for the remainder of the season. As such, the chances of them climbing to the seventh or eighth seed can't be ruled out. By clinching one of those two positions, they'd get two cracks at making the postseason season instead of being in a single-game elimination scenario as a ninth or 10th seed.
More must-reads: