The Warriors aren’t in the playoffs yet. Hate to spill haterade on the premature postseason celebration, but all the Warriors have done (with the help of Sacramento) is regained control of their own fate. But they still have to win out. If they lose one and the CLippers win out, all this hype is for nothing.
After the game yesterday, a couple of my NBA security friends and I were discussing seeding and first-round match-ups. We pulled Matt Steinmetz into the conversation. The first thing he said was “Get past Dallas first.”
It’s so true. People have already inked 42 wins for the Warriors. But No. 41 won’t be a cake walk as was No. 40. True, the Warriors are playing great, they are exceptional at home, and Dirk Nowitzki may not play too much. Still, the Mavs have 66 wins for a reason — they know how to win.
Hopefully for Warriors fans, Nelson isn’t buying the hype and won’t allow his players to feel as if they’ve accomplished something. Overlooking Portland on the road in the home finale is dangerous. Overlooking Dallas in any arena is inexcusable.

Is it me, or does everything seem to be falling into place?
Not only did the Warriors humiliate Minnesota, but the Clippers lose to the sorry Kings in Los Angeles, with the stars hardly playing? That doesn’t make sense.
Not only that, but Kobe emerges just in time to save the Lakers last night against Seattle, keeping the Warriors on track for the eighth seed and not the seventh. (Trust me, you don’t want the seventh seed; Playoffs are all about matchups, and Dallas can’t handle the Warriors guards. Phoenix can.)
If Dallas rests Dirk and Josh Howard and Jason Terry on Tuesday, you know the road is paved to the playoffs.

Uh oh!
Kings 87, Clippers 77 – 6:14 in the 4th

Kings 81, Kings 65 – end of 3rd Quarter.

Kings 75, Clippers 55 – 5:01 in 3rd Quarter

Kings 60, Clippers 41 at the half.

Kings 51, Clippers 30 – 4:39 left in the second quarter

The Hornets lost and now they’re out. That’s one less team in the Clippers way who will be at full strength.
If the Warriors win out, they need the Clippers to lose at least once to get in. But where will the loss come from? (the Kings are up 34-23 Clippers in L.A.at the end of one ) If the Kings be the sorry Kings, the Clippers will win that game. Without anything to play for, the Hornets will probably rest their stars (Chris Paul has been playing hurt) and won’t be much of a foe in the season finale. That leaves the Phoenix game.
So, you should be hoping for the Spurs to beat the Mavericks today. If San Antonio loses, the Suns could clinch the No. 2 seed on Monday. Which means the game against the Clippers on Tuesday won’t be important to the Suns. If it’s a meaningless game, Nash will likely rest. Maybe even Amare, too, being he’s the only Sun to play every game.
That doesn’t look good for the Warriors.

Interesting quote from Gregg Popovich told the San Antonio Express-News:

“Being such a young guy and to show the confidence he shows now is really impressive to me. He’s exhibiting no fear, an awareness of who he’s playing against, which is tough for a young kid to take at that in with all the players and all the games there are. I think he’s become more and more confident and more and more aggressive as I’ve seen him through the season. I think he’s pretty special.”

The one time we needed you to come through, you choke. The one time you get the entire Bay Area on your side, you let us down.
Yeah, you got 50. But it was a bad 50.
What’s the point of getting 50 if you only score six in the fourth quarter? What does it profit to make 17 of 33 shots if you miss the last six you take?
Dog, how can you get only one assists in 48 minutes, especially after the Clippers were keying on stopping you from scoring? If you’re not going to put the ball in the basket, put your teammates in position to!
Now, the Warriors have to finish a game ahead of the Clippers to get in the playoffs. Now, the Warriors have to worry about tying with the Lakers for the eighth spot, a tie-breaker the Warriors will lose.
Dang it, Kobe! You’re killing me!