The Golden State Warriors helped their own playoff cause significantly on Tuesday night, outlasting the Dallas Mavericks 104-100 at home.
It wasn’t a banner game for superstar guard Stephen Curry, who finished with 13 points on 5-of-18 shooting, plus seven assists and seven rebounds, but several other Dubs players stepped up in their fifth consecutive win.
Andrew Wiggins led Golden State with 23 points, while Draymond Green had 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals, and both Chris Paul and Moses Moody scored in double figures off the bench.
Mavericks superstar guard and NBA MVP candidate Luka Dončić went off for 30 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in what was his 20th triple-double of the season, but Golden State otherwise played strong defense, holding the Mavs to 43.8 percent shooting, forcing 15 turnovers and winning the rebounding battle 52-42.
With Golden State snapping Dallas’ seven-game winning streak, fans took to X to hype up the Warriors’ playoff chances and the fact that they are hitting their stride at the right time:
Mini-playoff feel to this one, at least for the Warriors. Gotta play like this the rest of the way or else it'll be over in mid-April. But they're giving themselves a chance. https://t.co/1G5vTbR76f
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) April 3, 2024
Warriors defense and rebounding is underrated. Don’t let them make the playoffs.
— Isaiah Osby (@IsaiahLeeOsby)
April 3, 2024
Playoff warriors in full effect
— YUNG N.A.Z (@yungnaz) April 3, 2024
Warriors playing like the belong in the playoffs #Warriors
— Joe_4923 (@gmplayer49) April 3, 2024
Huge win by warriors, they should finish above the lakers now due to the lakers tough final 4 games, homecourt should allow them to beat LA, then whoever is 7/8 to get to the playoffs
— max jones (@Asdadfj453Max) April 3, 2024
Playoff warriors in beast mode https://t.co/ANNRlgRPO8
— K⅓ 👑 (@dakid_online) April 3, 2024
Good win today warriors see y’all in the playoffs @itsandyover
— basedtexas_24 (@drakkar_h)
April 3, 2024
These were the types of games we let slip through earlier in the season. Had we managed to close those out, we’d be having a different conversation heading to the playoffs. Well done lads #DALvsGSW #DubNation #Warriors
— Max (@IamMaxofMAB) April 3, 2024
This 100% felt like a playoff game. Huge win.
— TheWarriorsTalk (@TheWarriorsTalk) April 3, 2024
Warriors play this type of defense, they’ll find themselves in a playoff series
— Gautam Ratnam (@GautamRatnamNBA) April 3, 2024
By virtue of their win, the Dubs improved to 41-34 on the season, extending their lead over the Houston Rockets for the 10th seed in the Western Conference to three games with seven left to play.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, they didn’t make much headway in the standings otherwise since the seventh-place Sacramento Kings and ninth-place Los Angeles Lakers both won Tuesday.
As of now, it seems likely that the Warriors’ path to the playoffs will have to go through the postseason play-in tournament, as they are four games out of the all-important sixth seed.
Even if the Warriors do have to compete in the play-in, they remain a threat to reach the playoffs and potentially go the distance.
Curry, Green and Klay Thompson have all helped the Warriors win four championships, giving them the type of experience that makes a huge difference come playoff time.
Also, the Dubs are playing their best basketball as of late, having won 20 of their past 29 games and five in a row.
As for the Mavs, Tuesday was a tough loss, but they are still fifth in the West, and they control their own destiny in terms of reaching the playoffs and avoiding the play-in.
However, they only hold a one-game lead over the seventh-place Kings and eighth-place Phoenix Suns, so they can ill afford to allow the loss to Golden State to turn into a losing streak.