Warriors Western Conference standings update, March 10
FILED UNDER:
A look at the standings after the weekend.
The Golden State Warriors took care of business this weekend, winning their lone game, a gritty, 115-110 victory over the Detroit Pistons, which kicked off a seven-game home-stand. Thanks to that win, the Dubs were able to hold onto the spot that they began the weekend with: the sixth seed in the Western Conference, which is the final postseason seed that gets to avoid the play-in tournament.
But the standings remain incredibly close. The Warriors still have visions of climbing to the fifth or even fourth seed … and who knows, the recent injury suffered by LeBron James could end up putting the third seed into play. Yet hanging on to the sixth seed is a greater priority: there’s a lot of pressure from the teams behind Golden State, and staying out of the play-in tournament would be huge for multiple reasons.
Here’s how the weekend unfolded in the West, and a look ahead for all the teams battling the Dubs.
I initially planned on removing the Suns from this column. They’ve been in a steady free-fall since the start of February, and they’re a whopping six games behind the Warriors (and one-and-a-half games out of the play-in tournament). I really don’t think they can catch the Warriors, but they are starting to look like a quality team again, after losing a road overtime contest against the Nuggets on Friday, and beating the Mavericks on Sunday. A team with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker can always get hot, which means if something happens to the Warriors, they’ll at least have to pay attention to Phoenix. But because there’s such a gap between the Warriors and Suns, Golden State is probably rooting for Phoenix to win their games this week.
Next games up: Monday at the Grizzlies, Wednesday at the Rockets
If the Suns can play even competent basketball, then the 10th seed is theirs, because the Mavericks are spiraling. Things went from bad to worse for Dallas, as they traded Luka Dončić, saw his replacement, Anthony Davis, suffer a serious injury, and then lost Kyrie Irving for the rest of the year to an ACL tear. Things are grim for Klay Thompson’s crew, which lost both of their weekend games: Friday against the Grizzlies, and Sunday against the Suns. They’re on a five-game skid, and most of the games haven’t been very competitive. It’s over.
Before the Knicks and the Bulls were, ya know, THE KNICKS AND THE BULLS, they had a pretty awesome battle on Christmas 1986. Let’s visit this moment in history, where Patrick Ewing’s Knicks were pretty bad, Michael Jordan was reestablishing himself after injury, and the nascent rivalry gave us one of its first great moments in history.
Next games up: Monday at the Spurs, Wednesday at the Spurs
The Kings are hanging around, after splitting their weekend games with a Friday win over the Spurs and a one-point, overtime loss to the Clippers on Sunday. They’ve surprisingly gone 9-6 since trading De’Aaron Fox, and the meltdown that I keep expecting keeps getting delayed. They’re still two-and-a-half games behind the Warriors, though … if Golden State beats Sacramento on Thursday, it’s probably safe to say that the race is over between these two. But if the Kings win … well, let’s not think about that.
Next games up: Monday vs. the Knicks, Thursday at the Warriors
The Clippers looked dead in the water on Tuesday, having lost six of seven games and sliding into the play-in seeds. Then they had a phenomenal three-game home-stand, beating the Pistons on Wednesday, the Knicks on Friday, and the Kings on Sunday. That’s three quality teams that LA took down, and it’s kept them firmly in the upper-half of the play-in tournament, which is critical. They’re also only one game behind the Warriors, so the Dubs will be hoping that the last three games are just a blip before LA returns to their losing ways.
Next games up: Tuesday at the Pelicans, Wednesday at the Heat
The Timberwolves are technically no games behind the Warriors, after beating the Heat on Friday and the Spurs on Sunday to push their winning streak to five games. The Dubs are still a game up on the Wolves in the loss column, though, as Minnesota has played two more games than Golden State — and that’s compounded by the fact that the Warriors have already clinched the tiebreaker. So there’s still a bit of work to be done for the Timberwolves, but they have the talent and momentum to do it, should the Warriors leave the door open.
Next games up: Wednesday at the Nuggets
The Warriors gained no ground on the Rockets this weekend, as Houston crushed the Pelicans on Saturday in their lone game of the weekend. They remain a full three games ahead of the Dubs, though the Warriors have clinched that tiebreaker as well, so they only need to catch up to the Rockets to surpass them. It’s a tough week for Houston, so keep an eye on them.
Next games up: Monday vs. the Magic, Wednesday vs. the Suns
The Grizzlies are four games ahead of the Warriors, so time is running out for the Dubs to snag the fourth seed. They gained no ground over the weekend, after the Grizzlies squeaked by the Pelicans on Sunday, their second straight win after a four-game losing streak. If the Warriors want to leapfrog the Rockets or Grizzlies, they’ll need to play excellent basketball and get a little help from their former rivals.
Next games up: Monday vs. the Suns, Wednesday vs. the Jazz
As for the Warriors, they continue their home-stand with a game tonight against the Trail Blazers, and one on Thursday against the Kings. Those are games they’ll certainly feel they should win, so hopefully they handle their business.
Here’s the full standings in the Western Conference:
Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537). Hope is here. GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call (800) 327-5050 for 24/7 support (MA). Visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD). Call 877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY). 21+ (18+ D.C.) and present in select states (for KS, in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino). Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT) or visit FanDuel.com/RG.
Follow Golden State Of Mind online:
Site search
Golden State Of Mind main menu
Share this story
Jordan vs. Ewing in the final seconds of a Christmas showdown needs a deep rewind
MORE FROM GOLDEN STATE OF MIND
Sign up for the newsletter
Sign up for the Golden State of Mind Daily Roundup newsletter!
No. 11 — Phoenix Suns (30-34)
No. 10 — Dallas Mavericks (32-33)
No. 9 — Sacramento Kings (33-30)
No. 8 — LA Clippers (35-29)
No. 7 — Minnesota Timberwolves (37-29)
No. 5 — Houston Rockets (39-25)
No. 4 — Memphis Grizzlies (40-24)
MOST READ
Loading comments…
How Warriors’ playoff seed ambitions have changed amid hot streak
The Warriors entered NBA trade deadline season desperate to return not to contention, but simply to competitiveness. And Golden State certainly has emerged as a competitive contender after trading for six-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler on the eve of the Feb. 6 deadline.
The Warriors (34-28) have won nine of their first 10 games with Butler and, after Tuesday night’s 114-102 win over the New York Knicks, held onto the Western Conference’s highly sought-after No. 6 seed from the tumbling Los Angeles Clippers.
With radiant energy throughout the organization and profound on-court momentum heading into the final 20 games of the 2024-25 NBA season, the Warriors are going for more than just making the playoffs as a lower seed. Second-year Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski and 11th-year coach Steve Kerr told 95.7 The Game’s “Steiny and Guru” and “Willard and Dibs,” respectively, about Golden State’s newfound playoff-seeding ambitions on Wednesday.
“I think the sixth seed was the bare-minimum expectation; from the staff, from us, after the trade deadline,” Podziemski told Evan Giddings and Guru Johnson. “And obviously we’re here [sixth seed] now, we’re like three games behind the [Houston] Rockets for the five spot. The three seed is only [5.5 games] away.
“We got the whole month of March and a little bit of April left … easy-strength schedule in the Western Conference left and the teams above us got to play each other a couple times, so someone’s going to lose. Thankfully, Houston, we have the tiebreaker with them, we [have the] Memphis [Grizzlies] tiebreaker. We’re just trying to get as high as we can. The higher we can get, the more home games we can get in the playoffs. That’s the goal.”
The Warriors aren’t content with barely avoiding the NBA play-in tournament; they’re aiming for a spot in the West’s top half.
As Podziemski mentioned, Golden State very well can pass the Grizzlies (38-23, No. 4 seed) and the Rockets (37-25, No. 5 seed). For what it’s worth, Memphis is 3-7 over its last 10 and Houston is 5-5.
Find the latest Golden State Warriors news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
Kerr essentially agreed with Podziemski’s outlook on the Warriors’ push for higher playoff seeding.
“I think we can move up further now, given what’s transpired the last couple weeks,” Kerr told Mark Willard and Dan Dibley. “We’ve made a pretty quick rise up the standings. We’re only a few games behind Houston, We have the tiebreaker over them … we play them one more time; I don’t think that spot [No. 5] is out of the question.”
However, Kerr isn’t looking too far ahead. The nine-time NBA champion is keeping track of the West’s playoff race on a game-by-game basis.
“You start looking too far ahead and you get out of sorts,” Kerr said. “The only thing we’re focused on is just winning the next game. But of course, we look at the standings every day and look at the scores every night, and we’re trying to climb as high as we can, for sure.”
The No. 1-seeded Oklahoma Thunder (50-11) virtually has the top spot locked up. And the Los Angeles Lakers (39-21, No. 2 seed) and the Denver Nuggets (39-22, No. 3 seed) will be hard to catch – though not impossible, for Golden State at least.
But the surging Warriors surely are on the right path to hosting at least a first-round playoff series at Chase Center. Considering where Golden State was roughly a month ago, Podziemski, Kerr and the Warriors will take it.
Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast
Never miss a moment. Sign up to get the latest news, stats & giveaways from NBC Sports Bay Area.
Sign up to get the latest news, stats & giveaways from NBC Sports Bay Area
MAR 11
Follow Us
FAQs
Regions
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Why battle of guards will be matchup to watch in Warriors vs. Blazers
KAT responds to Draymond’s comments about availability vs. Warriors
MOST POPULAR
Sports, Right to Your Inbox
LATEST PODCASTS
Never Miss a Moment
TikTok
BREAKING
By Joaquin Ruiz • Published March 5, 2025 • Updated on March 5, 2025 at 6:56 pm
This article tagged under:
NFL FREE AGENCY
49ERS ANALYSIS
KEVIN GIVENS
DRE GREENLAW
KYLE JUSZCZYK
NBCSAuthentic
@NBCSAuthentic
nbcsportsauthentic
Kawakami: The Warriors are suddenly built for the playoffs — but they’re still vulnerable
We and our vendors use cookies and similar methods to recognize visitors and remember their preferences, for analytics, to measure our marketing effectiveness and to target and measure the effectiveness of ads, among other things. To learn more about these methods, view our Privacy Policy. By clicking ‘Confirm’ you consent to the processing of your data by us and our vendors using the above methods. You can always change your preferences by clicking on Manage Privacy Preferences in our website footer.
Eleven games into the Jimmy Butler era, they’re thriving on both ends. And ‘Playoff Jimmy’ hasn’t even shown up yet.
Stephen Curry “night-night” shots are always transcendent. Jimmy Butler barging to the rim is perpetually beneficial. Tough and clingy defense against a top opponent is a constant differentiator.
So yes, the Warriors are confident, refreshed, re-energized, and can seize the moment, which is exactly what they showcased in Tuesday’s victory in Madison Square Garden over the Knicks. It was clearly the best game yet of the Warriors’ buoyant and now 9-2 Butler era. They’re sitting sixth in the Western Conference, they’re moving closer to the fifth-seed Rockets, they’ll get Jonathan Kuminga back soon, and they haven’t even shot it that well lately.
Wait a minute: Does this mean this Warriors could barrel through multiple playoff rounds? Maybe all the way to the Finals? Did Draymond Green call this a few weeks ago when he guaranteed a title?
OK, I won’t go that far. The Warriors still have some weaknesses that might be too much to overcome at some point in April, May, or June. They don’t match up well with a few top teams — notably the Lakers, Clippers, and Nuggets. They don’t know how much Kuminga can give them. And their cornerstone players are all in their mid- to late-30s, which makes it hard to predict how they’ll hold up through the postseason marathon.
But that Knicks victory was an attention-getter — even with Karl-Anthony Towns out, the Knicks are formidable, especially at home. And the Warriors were on a rough back-to-back, a night after Curry dinged his ankle and with Butler seeming like he was still feeling the effects of some back problems.
More than anything, as the Warriors were finishing off an incredible 67-47 second half, this felt like a break-your-will game — which we’ve seen from the Warriors before in Memphis in 2015 or Cleveland multiple times or Boston in Game 6 to win the fourth championship of this era. This kind of performance is how you win playoff series.
“They’re finding a real identity and it’s fun to watch unfold,” Steve Kerr told reporters after the game about his team.
And what’s the identity?
“Two-way team,” Kerr said. “Last 10 games, I think we’re second in both offense and defense [in the league efficiency ratings]. Obviously small sample size, but that’s when we got Jimmy. So things have clearly turned with him. He’s a great complement to what we already do, just with his ability to pass. What he’s adding is that maturity and poise.”
Curry is still the best closer in the game. Butler calms the game down and manufactures points by crashing into the lane and getting to the free-throw line. The two stars are working well together and also when they’re leading separate units.
For the most part, they’ve stopped throwing the ball around wildly — when it gets to Butler, he slows things down and gets them into order.
And the Warriors, who are going small much of the time these days, found a way on Tuesday to limit one of the best offenses in the league. After giving up Andrew Wiggins (their best on-ball defender) in the Butler trade, they’ve leveled up on defense by tightening up their rotations and at times over-playing the passing lanes. When they get turnovers or long rebounds, they run.
“With Draymond at the 5, Jimmy at the 4, you can play pretty fast and try to speed teams up on both ends,” Curry said. “And just try to limit your turnovers and usually good things are gonna happen. Whether we make or miss shots, we don’t really live and die by that; it’s just truly the fundamentals of the game. Play good defense, take care of the ball, and then we’re getting better at getting organized offensively with certain sets and actions that Jimmy likes. And we all know if I get the chaos of the offense going, we can create good shots that way, too.”
Moses Moody defended Knicks star Jalen Brunson fairly well on Tuesday, as he’s done in the past. Moody seems like Kerr’s best option against other physical guards like Memphis’ Desmond Bane or maybe Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Brandin Podziemski’s been defending quicker guards during this run (and did a nice job on Kyrie Irving last week), so he might get the assignments in the future against Memphis’ Ja Morant, Denver’s Jamal Murray, and Houston’s Jalen Green.
Butler can match up against big scoring wings like the Lakers’ Luka Doncic and the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard. Gary Payton II is always available for a few minutes to shut down top scorers.
The Warriors’ wild-card is Kuminga, who at times over the years has been Kerr’s prime defender against anybody from Morant to LeBron James. Draymond, of course, will have the main minutes defending the opponents’ biggest players. And Draymond and Butler will hold down the back line in all the important minutes.
Is that enough? The 44-point thrashing by Philadelphia’s Quentin Grimes on Saturday (with Butler out) wasn’t a good sign. The Warriors are going to have to trick up some things to slow down great penetrators — which is why defensive coordinator Jerry Stackhouse has been dialing up a lot of zones recently. In the second half on Tuesday, it all worked.
On offense, the Warriors need more shooting from Butler than he’s been giving them in the previous week — in his four games leading up to Tuesday, Butler only took 9, 8, 7, and 7 shots and only scored a combined 41 points. Especially in the minutes when Curry sits, Butler has to be as aggressive as he was on Tuesday, when he took 12 shots and made it to the free-throw line nine times. Actually, the Warriors could use even more from Butler.
“That’s obviously what we’re looking for, is to have a two-pronged attack, obviously Steph is the guy who’s going to create a lot of chaos and havoc and come off screens,” Kerr said. “But we need what Jimmy’s doing — nine free throws. He kind of just bludgeons people in the lane.”
That’s playoff basketball. That’s what Butler is built for — Butler has turned it all the way up in the playoffs in two previous very famous sprints to the Finals. Playoff Jimmy hasn’t shown up for the Warriors yet, but of course, it’s not the playoffs yet. But it’s beginning to feel like it. On Tuesday, the Warriors looked like they’re getting very ready for it.
Tim Kawakami can be reached at tkawakami@sfstandard.com
Join The Standard
Bay Area sports news, straight to your inbox
Sign up for the Sports Updates newsletter
By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
