Warriors, Kings’ play-in game opponents if NBA season ended today originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
With the Warriors and Kings both officially locked into NBA Play-In Tournament games to begin the postseason, it’s time to look ahead.
Golden State lost its chance at an outright playoff berth when the Phoenix Suns defeated the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, putting the Western Conference’s No. 6 seed out of reach for good for the Warriors. Sacramento, meanwhile, sealed its own play-in fate with a 135-123 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday at Golden 1 Center.
As of Thursday night, the Kings (45-35) are the No. 8 seed, while the Warriors (45-35) jumped from No. 10 to No. 9 after a 110-92 win over the Trail Blazers in Portland. If the season ended Thursday, here’s how the West’s play-in bracket would look, via NBA.com:
The Kings would face the No. 7-seeded Suns in the first play-in game, whom Sacramento tied the season series with at two games apiece. And the Warriors would be in for an epic clash against LeBron James and the No. 10 Los Angeles Lakers. Golden State owns the season series against Los Angeles three games to one.
From there, the Kings would face the winner of the Warriors-Lakers matchup if they lose to the Suns, then go on to face the Denver Nuggets in the 2024 NBA playoff bracket if they win that second game. Or, the Kings would move on to face the No. 2 Minnesota Timberwolves if they beat Phoenix in the play-in.
Should the Warriors lose their play-in game, they’ll be eliminated. And if they win, they’ll face either the Kings or Suns before potentially facing the defending NBA champions in the opening playoff round.
A lot can happen between then and now, but with just two regular-season games remaining for both teams, Warriors and Kings fans have a pretty good idea of how the postseason’s start might look.
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