The Golden State Warriors have found themselves in the Play-In Tournament after losing 124-119 to the Los Angeles Clippers in the final regular season game. The Warriors will face the Memphis Grizzlies for a chance to play the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs.
The Warriors have been in the Play-In Tournament several times, and Jimmy Butler also has experience with the Miami Heat. Curry was asked after their game against the Clippers about how their experience in the tournament can help them this season.
“We joked about that last week,” Curry said via 95.7 The Game. “He (Jimmy) went into the play-in packing for two months, so we would love to have that opportunity. What we can learn is we need to win. We haven’t had a good outcome (in play-in).”
Butler has probably had the best Play-In experience out of anybody who’s participated, as he got the Heat all the way to the NBA Finals to face the Denver Nuggets. On the other hand, the Warriors are 0-3 in the tournament since it was introduced, and they’re looking to take some of the experience that Butler has so they can advance this time around.
Warriors looking to advance through Play-In Tournament
The Warriors and Clippers came down to the wire in the final game of the season, but it was Kawhi Leonard and James Harden who came up big in the clutch to get the win. The Clippers will now face the Denver Nuggets in the first round, while the Warriors have two chances to make the playoffs.
If the Warriors lose to the Grizzlies, then they will face the winner of the Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks game, and whoever wins that matchup will play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round. The Warriors probably don’t care who they play, but they would have liked to get an extra week of rest instead of having to play again during the week.
The Warriors have been on a roll since acquiring Butler at the trade deadline, and hopefully, they can show for all the work they did to climb up the standings by making the playoffs. They have the experience on the team, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they made a deep playoff run in the event that they advance to the playoffs, but it will be tough. It’ll be interesting to see how things turn out for them.
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