Warriors take care of business in Portland, setting up pivotal season finale showdown

PORTLAND — Minutes after the final buzzer of a 103-86 win over the depleted Blazers, Mike Dunleavy broke down the situation to Steve Kerr. 

The Warriors have three potential home games to clinch a playoff berth. That’s the scenario, in the most succinct terms.

The easiest way for Golden State (48-33) to find its way into a seven-game playoff series is to beat the Clippers in the regular-season finale at Chase Center on Sunday. A breakfast-ball victory in the 12:30 p.m. matchup would give the Warriors the sixth seed. A loss would send them to seventh, in which they’d host the Memphis Grizzlies in the top play-in game. 

“I don’t want to be too dramatic, but it should be like a Game 7 kind of vibe,” Steph Curry said. 

Players inquired about all the playoff scenarios around the Moda Center visitor’s locker room. Although they’ve always known that winning their final two games would put them in pole position for a top-six seed, they were curious about the dizzying tiebreakers. 

The tiebreakers are fairly convoluted, but the Warriors’ path is straightforward. Despite skunking a loss to the Spurs at home earlier in the week, they still control their own destiny: it’s win-and-you’re-in against the Clippers. 

“The fact that we’re in this spot, 48 wins with one to go, given where we were midseason — just really proud of the team,” Kerr said. “The whole group. They’ve just gone on a phenomenal run the past couple months.” 

Via The Athletic’s John Hollinger, here are the seeding possibilities assuming the Timberwolves take care of the Jazz, who have no motivation to win. 

If Warriors lose and Nuggets (vs. Houston) win: 

If Warriors and Nuggets win: 

If Warriors and Nuggets lose

If Warriors win, Nuggets lose

The lowest the Warriors can drop is seventh, where they’d play the Grizzlies in a one-game playoff (the loser would host the winner of the 9-10 game in a single elimination contest for the eighth seed). The highest they can finish is sixth. 

Their paths are as such: beat the Clippers to play the Lakers, beat the Grizzlies to play the Rockets, or beat the Kings/Mavericks to play the Thunder.

What’s really on the line on Sunday is a week off, which the Warriors would greatly welcome. Curry re-aggravated his right thumb against the Blazers and played the rest of the game with it taped up. He’d sprained it earlier this year, and it could affect his jump shot if it lingers. 

Although Draymond Green said he’s cut out for it, he has played the second half of the season primarily at center, which takes a physical toll. A week off could do wonders for him, too, as well as the rest of Golden State’s veterans.

“It’d be huge,” Green said. “You’d be surprised at how healthy you can get over the course of a week off.” 

A week off before Game 1 of a first-round matchup against the Lakers would also give Golden State’s experienced, sizable coaching staff valuable time to game plan. And by the way Kerr categorized the Warriors’ recent play, they could use it. 

“Game’s got to flow,” Kerr said. “We have to pass the ball better. We have to get spaced better. We have to develop a rhythm. We were in a better place, I think, a few weeks ago. We were playing with more rhythm, more flow, more two-way connection. We have to get back to that. The past two weeks have been a little choppy.” 

Green confirmed that the ball has been sticking lately. Re-integrating Jonathan Kuminga has generally been rocky. However, the past couple weeks also include wins over the Lakers — in which Kuminga was excellent — the Grizzlies and Nuggets. 

Kerr said the Warriors are in a great place in terms of their upcoming chances to secure a playoff berth. They were 25-26 before they turned their season around with the Jimmy Butler trade; since acquiring the star forward, Golden State has the third-best record in the league (23-7). 

The Warriors and Clippers haven’t yet matched up in 2025. Both teams are different, with Jimmy in the fold for Golden State and Kawhi Leonard healthy and playing at an extremely high level on the other side. 

All three of the first matchups went the Clippers’ way. Los Angeles’ on-ball pressure gave the Warriors trouble, as did Ivica Zubac down low. 

If the atmosphere lives up to the Game 7-like anticipation, the Warriors could channel it. Curry dropped 50 in the last Game 7 he played — to close out the Kings in 2023 — and averages 32.6 points, 7.0 assists, and 6.4 rebounds in Game 7s. Butler, who registered a game-high 24 points on Friday night, has his Playoff Jimmy alter ego to uphold. 

The Warriors know the stakes. 

“You win, and again you control your own destiny on a guaranteed playoff series,” Curry said. “You lose, you roll the dice. I think I said last game that good teams find a way to win big games like that, and that’s what we’re aiming to be.”