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Warriors predicted to make play-in for 2nd straight year

Originally posted on Empire Sports Media
By Matthew Legros | Last updated Sep 2, 2025 4:45 PM ET

A recent projection did not give the Golden State Warriors the best forecast for the 2025-26 NBA postseason.

Warriors picked to have identical season to last year

Per Joel Soria of NBC Sports Bay Area, an ESPN prediction piece forecasted the Warriors to finish with a 48-34 record, good for the No. 7 seed out West — the same finish as last season:

“That’s particularly dangerous for older teams like the Warriors and Mavericks, who will likely spend the final month of the season in a full-out standings sprint and won’t get the extra week of pre-playoff rest the top teams receive,” ESPN staff said of the anticipated tight playoff race out West next season.

Warriors have interesting Western Conference to battle

The West is likely to tell a similar story next season. There’s no reason to believe that the Oklahoma City Thunder will see a massive regression of 10-plus games, which could put them outside of the top seed in the conference.

The new-look Houston Rockets, as well as the Los Angeles Lakers figure to retain home-court advantage in the playoff battle. Realistically, the Minnesota Timberwolves may be the only team that Golden State could overtake.

Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Conversely, other teams, such as a fully healthy New Orleans Pelicans team, could jockey for positioning with the Warriors. At full strength, they’ve shown the ability to vie for home court, not to mention welcoming Jordan Poole into their mix.

The same could be said for the Dallas Mavericks, should the Anthony Davis-Kyrie Irving-Dereck Lively II trio stay healthy, while meshing with Klay Thompson.

Seeing that Golden State still needs a competent starting center, in conjunction with still needing to ink Jonathan Kuminga to a new deal, it is reasonable to expect them to vie for playoff positioning as a play-in team on the outside looking in.

This article first appeared on Empire Sports Media and was syndicated with permission.

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