How Warriors can clinch top-10 playoff seed on Sunday originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
With a roller-coaster 2023-24 NBA regular season coming to a close, the Warriors can secure a postseason berth on Sunday.
Golden State (42-35) currently is the Western Conference’s No. 10 seed and sits two games back of the ninth-seeded Sacramento Kings (44-33) and four games ahead of the No. 11 seed Houston Rockets (38-39) for the final NBA Play-In Tournament spot.
The Warriors can punch their postseason ticket in several scenarios on Sunday. Golden State will secure a top-10 seed with a win over the Utah Jazz (29-48) at Chase Center or a Rockets loss to the Dallas Mavericks (47-30). The Warriors also will be postseason-bound with a win over the Jazz and a Phoenix Suns (46-31) win over the New Orleans Pelicans (45-32).
The Warriors, at one point, barely were hanging on to the No. 10 seed as the then-surging Rockets sat just one game back of Golden State on March 30.
Houston since has struggled, and lost to the Warriors 133-110 on Thursday at Toyota Center, giving Golden State some extra cushion in the Western Conference standings.
Now the Warriors can put the pesky Rockets away for good on Sunday.