{"id":709655,"date":"2026-04-13T12:40:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T12:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/709655\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T12:40:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T12:40:28","slug":"will-warriors-miserable-season-end-in-nba-play-in-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/709655\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Warriors’ miserable season end in NBA play-in tournament?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Warriors lost to the Clippers<\/a> in Sunday\u2019s regular-season finale.<\/p>\n

Big deal. This team lost all the time this season.<\/p>\n

The Dubs were locked into the 10-seed<\/a>, whether they bothered to show up in Inglewood or not.<\/p>\n

So go ahead and ignore the fact that they tried \u2014 really tried \u2014 until LA took their lunch money in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

The Dubs have been focused on Wednesday\u2019s play-in game<\/a> (also against the Clippers) for weeks anyway.<\/p>\n

Surely they\u2019ll flip that proverbial switch and take down the Clippers when it\u2019s win-or-go-home.<\/p>\n

Right?<\/p>\n

Right?<\/p>\n

If you believe that, I have some James Wiseman All-NBA stock for sale.<\/p>\n

Forgive the sarcasm, but this season broke my credulity meter months ago. Ever since Jimmy Butler tore his ACL in January, the only reprieve from this slog of a campaign has been the promise of a swift, merciful end.<\/p>\n

Maybe we\u2019ll finally get it on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

And I won\u2019t apologize for rooting for it.<\/p>\n

I know the romantic counter-argument: We shouldn\u2019t take any Steph Curry game for granted.<\/p>\n

Cute, perhaps poetic in theory. But it\u2019s total garbage in practice.<\/p>\n

Because watching Curry try to drag a lifeless roster with zero chance at anything meaningful isn\u2019t inspiring. It\u2019s noblesse oblige.<\/p>\n

Plus, these play-in games don\u2019t actually count in the standings. They\u2019re common-law basketball games. It\u2019s hard to tell what I\u2019m more over: the play-in tournament concept or this season\u2019s Warriors.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s just scratch both from the ledger.<\/p>\n

The Dubs won\u2019t be favored on Wednesday. If they advance, they\u2019ll be underdogs again in the second game.<\/p>\n

The competitive fire that used to fuel championships \u2014 or at least deep playoff runs \u2014 is now being wasted on the off-chance they can steal two home gates at Chase Center in a first-round bloodbath against the Thunder.<\/p>\n

I know that the era of dominance is dead. The era of baseline competitiveness is likely in the grave right next to it.<\/p>\n

But doesn\u2019t this whole charade still feel a bit beneath the Warriors?<\/p>\n

This is their third straight year slumming it in the play-in. They have exactly one playoff series win to show for it. But at least last year, with Butler in tow, the Warriors entered the play-in tournament as one of the best teams in basketball down the stretch.<\/p>\n

This year, they\u2019d be amongst the worst if not for so many teams in the league actively trying to lose on a night-in, night-out basis.<\/p>\n

Aside from tapping the mystic realm, where should I be finding optimism going into the PIT?<\/p>\n

Did the Dubs build any actual chemistry or templates for victory down the stretch? Did they hint at something greater, just waiting to be unleashed at the right time?<\/p>\n

Did Curry and Kristaps Porzingis magically turn into Magic and Worthy in their sporadic handful of minutes together this month?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going to delude myself. Not at this juncture. I suggest you follow suit.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Clippers will get Kawhi Leonard back after the star forward sat out Sunday\u2019s game. The Warriors get Draymond Green back. And, yes, Draymond has looked frisky now that he\u2019s back alongside Steph, but let\u2019s be real \u2014 that\u2019s a wildly lopsided talent swap.<\/p>\n

The Warriors will try their best on Wednesday because they\u2019re hardwired that way. They don\u2019t know any other way to play (not that it\u2019s mattered much this season).<\/p>\n

And, for all my snark, that\u2019s the right way to approach the game. Heaven knows too many teams in the NBA do not share that mindset.<\/p>\n

But for those of us living outside the arena, the absolute best outcome for the Warriors this upcoming week is a loss.<\/p>\n

Give us finality to this cursed campaign \u2014 preceded by a nice early-week sojourn to LA for the team \u2014 and better ping-pong balls come May.<\/p>\n

At 37-45, Golden State has the 11th-best lottery odds. That\u2019s a nearly 10 percent chance at a top-four pick and a two percent prayer for the No. 1 overall. Frankly, that\u2019s better than they deserve. (Thanks, Adam Silver!)<\/p>\n

They should take the deal.<\/p>\n

Because if they somehow manage to win two play-in games \u2014 aka screw this up \u2014 they bounce themselves right out of the lottery; they\u2019d draft 15th.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be unequivocally clear: A sub-.500 team with a negative point differential is not the 15th-best team in basketball.<\/p>\n

And if the basketball gods were just, the Warriors would be provided a play-in loss \u2014 Wednesday or Friday, either will do \u2014 and lottery luck.<\/p>\n

Because, seriously, what\u2019s more valuable to this franchise right now? A legitimate shot at Nate Ament or Yaxel Lendeborg at No. 11\u2014 to say nothing of the pipe dream at Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson, or AJ Dybantsa? Or the pure, unadulterated delusion of contention and a non-lottery pick?<\/p>\n

Take the ping-pong balls. End the suffering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Warriors lost to the Clippers in Sunday\u2019s regular-season finale. Big deal. This team lost all the time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3789],"tags":[7,159,160,559,164,155,4034,192,4032,165,251,135,4033,4031,6,161,162,163,66,198,158],"class_list":{"0":"post-709655","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-clippers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bay-area","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-clippers","12":"tag-golden-state-warriors","13":"tag-inside-sports","14":"tag-la","15":"tag-la-clippers","16":"tag-laclippers","17":"tag-latest-headlines","18":"tag-los-angeles","19":"tag-los-angeles-clippers","20":"tag-losangeles","21":"tag-losangelesclippers","22":"tag-nba","23":"tag-peninsula","24":"tag-san-francisco","25":"tag-san-francisco-county","26":"tag-sports","27":"tag-sports-columnists","28":"tag-warriors-hq"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116397448813461715","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=709655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=709655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}