The Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors have a chance to secure a playoff berth while at the same time sending the other into the Western Conference play-in bracket when they duel in the regular-season finale Sunday afternoon in San Francisco.
The Clippers (49-32) enter the road affair tied with the Denver Nuggets for fourth place in the West. The Nuggets own the tiebreaker and finish with a Houston Rockets team already locked into its playoff position.
Meanwhile, the Warriors (48-33) are one game back, tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves for sixth. Minnesota finishes with the lottery-bound Utah Jazz.
A Warriors win, coupled with a likely Minnesota triumph over Utah, could create as much as a four-way tie for fourth. The Clippers would benefit in that scenario, claiming the fourth spot, while the Warriors would drop to sixth.
It’s more likely a Clippers loss would drop them into the play-in. A Warriors defeat would send them to that undesirable situation as well.
It’s tense, complex — and very exciting to Golden State star Stephen Curry.
“It should be like a Game 7 kind of vibe,” he observed. “You win and you control your destiny on a guaranteed playoff series. If you lose, you roll the dice.”
Curry survived a bit of a scare when he banged his sore right thumb early in Friday’s win at Portland. He had X-rays, which were negative, was able to return to the game and afterward gave a thumbs-up, so to speak, to his status for Sunday.
“I just know it hurts right now,” he admitted immediately following the game. “But I’ll be all right.”
The Clippers have earned a tiebreaker edge in most scenarios over the Warriors by virtue of sweeping the first three meetings this season. They won 112-104 in San Francisco in October, 102-99 in LA in November and 102-92 at home in December.
James Harden averaged 17.7 points and 11.3 assists in those matchups while Curry recorded 22.0 points per contest in two games. But a big difference-maker in the Clippers’ success was the play of Norman Powell, who went over 20 points in all three games while averaging 23.3.
Neither Kawhi Leonard nor Jimmy Butler, who didn’t join Golden State until February, played in any of the previous games.
“High stakes, huh?” noted Clippers center Ivica Zubac. “That’s a good team (the Warriors) over there. They got a lot of experience, a lot of playoff games together. It’s going to be tough, but I think we’re in a good spot. So it’s going to be fun.”
Following his team’s win Friday night at Sacramento, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue scratched his head at the possibility of his team needing a 50th win to avoid the play-in.
“Win 49 games and if you don’t win Sunday, you got a chance to be seventh,” Lue lamented. “It is what it is. But you didn’t ever think you’d win 49 games and still could be in the play-in.”
