The Warriors will take any win they can get
The Golden State Warriors came back from a five-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Washington Wizards 131-126 on Friday.The common theme from both games is Golden State's opponents did not play their best available players down the stretch.
A reporter asked Steve Kerr what it's like playing against a team holding out its best players—aka tanking—in the fourth quarter. "It's definitely strange, but it almost doesn't matter because these guys are all in the NBA," Kerr said. "Jaden Hardy didn't play the first 36 minutes and he scores 14 in the fourth quarter. So technically he's not one of their best players, but he was their best player in the fourth quarter." He then mentioned that the Jazz and Bulls beat the Warriors on March 9 and 10, respectively. The Jazz didn't play Keyonte George down the stretch of that game yet they got a late go-ahead three from reserve Blake Hinson. The Bulls game is not an example of a Warriors opponent trying to tank, as Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis played late in the fourth quarter and in overtime, but it does drive home the point that this Warriors team is capable of losing to anyone right now, so it shouldn't worry about who is and isn't on the court for the other team. Kerr then addressed how prevalent teams not playing their best players down the stretch of games has become. "It's a strange phenomenon," Kerr said. "I think it's pretty unique to this season. I haven't really seen this in the past. This is different. But I always remind our guys, every one of these guys is in the NBA for a reason."The Trail Blazers lost 100-93 to the Mavericks on Friday, which means the Warriors are now just a half game back of Portland for ninth.Portland has the tiebreaker over Golden State and an easierIn the play-in tournament, the team that finishes eighth will play the team that finishes seventh for the seventh seed. The loser of that game will get one more chance to make the playoffs. It will play the winner of the 9-10 game, which the Warriors are projected to be in. This is a long way of saying if the Warriors finish ninth or 10th, they will have to win two games in the play-in tournament to make the playoffs.
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