The Golden State Warriors watched their seven-point halftime lead quickly disappear Sunday, losing 116-93 to the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena.

Nikola Jokic had 25 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists for the Nuggets (48-28), who won their sixth straight game.

Kristaps Porzingis and Brandin Podziemski had 23 points apiece to pace the Warriors (36-29), whose three-game winning streak was snapped.

Here are two takeaways from Sunday’s game.

Warriors Will Finish 10th, Setting Up Daunting Play-In Task

Losing the second half 70-40 wasn’t totally shocking, but it was a reminder that this Warriors team is not about to go on an unlikely winning run to move up to eighth or ninth in the Western Conference standings.

At 39-36, the Clippers are well on their way to an eighth-place finish.

At 38-38, the Trail Blazers could be caught for ninth, but keep in mind that they have the tiebreaker over the Warriors.

So if Portland goes, say, 2-6 over its last eight games, the Warriors would have to go 5-2 to pass them in the standings. One look at the Warriors’ remaining schedule shows why that’s not happening.

4/1 vs. San Antonio
4/2 vs. Cleveland
4/5 vs. Houston
4/7 vs. Sacramento
4/9 vs. Lakers
4/10 @ Sacramento
4/12 @ Clippers

Even if Stephen Curry makes his return from a 25-game absence for the Spurs game, the Warriors will have trouble winning any of the non-Kings games. All of their opponents are battling for key playoff positioning, so you can expect all of them to play their best players.

The history of teams in the play-in tournament that finish 10th is not kind.

Of the 10 teams that have entered the tournament 10th, only one has won both games to advance to the playoffs. That was the 2025 Heat, who then got swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Cavaliers.

Three other 10th seeds beat the ninth seeds before losing the No. 8 seed game.

Meanwhile, three ninth seeds have made the playoffs.

Getting that first play-in game at home has proved to be valuable, so the Warriors are playing for something in the last seven games. But they will ultimately fail their quest of catching the Blazers, setting up the daunting play-in task of having to win two road games in three days just to make the playoffs.

Porzingis’ Return Feeling More Likely by the Day

Porzingis had 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting Sunday, but the headline was that he was 5-of-5 from three.

He’s now at 37.3 percent from three as a Warrior.

He’s also at 27.4 points per 36 minutes with Golden State, which is second on the team. He’s ahead of Jimmy Butler (23.1) and only trails Stephen Curry (31.3).

It wasn’t long ago that Porzingis’ return next season did not feel like a foregone conclusion. And if he has another bout with illness in the final stretch of the season, doubts about his future will rise again.

But at the moment, the Warriors should be prioritizing his return, even if that means losing De’Anthony Melton in free agency.

Melton had a bad game Sunday, finishing with zero points on 0-of-5 shooting and a game-worst minus-29 plus/minus.

Steve Kerr said after the game that he’s been battling a thumb injury, so maybe this recent stretch shouldn’t hurt his FA value. But even if you believe Melton is more valuable than Porzingis, Melton is harder to keep this offseason because the Warriors don’t have his Bird rights. Essentially, the Warriors have to use their mid-level exception to keep him, and if they don’t have enough cap room to offer him the non-taxpayer mid-level, he could be a goner.

Instead of clearing cap room just to try to give Melton more money, they should prioritize paying Porzingis. They have KP’s Bird rights, so it should be easier to keep him in town.