How things look after the weekend.
The Golden State Warriors are attempting to rise up the Western Conference standings, with their eyes on the sixth seed … which would allow them to avoid the play-in tournament altogether. Given how tight the standings are, how much momentum the Dubs have, and the fact that the regular season ends in less than two months, it seems like the time has come for regular updates to the standings.
For now, I’ll plan on updating the standings every Monday and Friday, so we can discuss what happened over the last few days. As the finish line draws closer, we may need to move into daily updates. As you probably know, the Warriors put together a pair of 24-point victories over teams they’re battling in the standings, which is always a good thing. Here’s what happened with the other teams in the first weekend out of the All-Star break.
No. 11 — Phoenix Suns
The Suns were the first team out when the All-Star Game rolled around, and they were sinking fast, having lost six of seven games going into the break. The rest of the All-Star weekend apparently did nothing to help a Phoenix team that is dramatically underperforming their talent. The Suns returned to action on Thursday, and lost by double-digits to a San Antonio Spurs team that is without Victor Wembanyama. Things stayed bad through the weekend: they narrowly beat the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, and on Sunday got punched in the face by a not-good-at-all Toronto Raptors team. The Suns are now 2-8 over their last 10 games, with half of their losses coming to teams outside of the playoffs and play-in tournament. They’re still outside of the play-in tournament themselves, and are now three games behind the Warriors in the standings.
Next games up: Tuesday at the Grizzlies, Thursday vs. the Pelicans
No. 10 — Sacramento Kings
The Warriors and Kings entered the break with identical records. Sacramento earned the nod in the standings due to the tiebreaker, but you know what happened on Friday when they faced each other: the Warriors sent a message with a dominant road win. That was the only game of the weekend for the Kings, and it pushed them into sole possession of the 10th spot in the West … exactly a game-and-a-half ahead of the Suns and behind the Warriors.
Next games up: Monday vs. Hornets, Wednesday at Jazz
No. 8 — Dallas Mavericks
After the Warriors leapfrogged the Kings on Saturday, they got to face the new team directly ahead of them on Sunday: the Mavericks. You know what happened there, as the Dubs sent a statement with a blowout victory. That was one of two games Dallas has played since the break, as they also beat the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday. They remain ahead of the Dubs, but only by half a game.
Next games up: Tuesday at Lakers, Thursday vs. Hornets
No. 7 — Minnesota Timberwolves
The Timberwolves entered the break looking like they’d started to figure things out, but they’ve stumbled out of the second-half gates. Minnesota lost both of their games, although in fairness, they were close losses against very good teams: on Friday they lost by six points on the road against the Houston Rockets, and on Sunday they lost by seven to the Oklahoma City Thunder. They have the same record as the Mavericks, just a half-game ahead of the Warriors.
Next games up: Monday at Thunder, Thursday at Lakers
No. 6 — LA Clippers
The Clippers helped round out a nearly perfect weekend for the Warriors. They began a funny seven-game road trip (two of those seven road games are in Los Angeles, just at the Lakers’ arena) with a Thursday night loss against the Milwaukee Bucks, and a Sunday defeat against the Indiana Pacers. They’re still clinging to the No. 6 seed, but they’re just one-and-a-half games ahead of the Warriors.
Next games up: Monday at Pistons, Wednesday at Bulls
You can’t draw it up much better than that for the Warriors. Here’s what the full standings look like heading into Monday’s games.
ESPN