Warriors' playoff scenarios: Seeding, tiebreakers, standings in Western Conference race

Scott Rafferty

Warriors' playoff scenarios: Seeding, tiebreakers, standings in Western Conference race image

As the regular season draws to a close, the Warriors maintain a steady hold on the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

The Warriors were in the mix for the No. 1 seed for much of the season, but the Suns have since locked up the best record in the Western Conference. Not only that, but the Grizzlies have jumped the Warriors in the standings, and Golden State's lead over Dallas remains razor-thin.

Where will the Warriors end up? Here's a look at their latest odds, plus tiebreakers that could determine their seeding.

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Where are the Warriors projected to finish in Western Conference?

As of April 7, FiveThirtyEight's model projects the Warriors to finish the season with a 52-30 record, tying them with the Mavericks in third place in the Western Conference standings.

Having won three of the four matchups this season, the Mavericks own the tiebreaker, which would mean the Warriors would drop to the No. 4 seed. FiveThirtyEight's model projects the Jazz to finish fifth in the Western Conference, in which case Golden State would play Utah in the first round of the playoffs.

The Ringer's Odds Machine spits out a similar situation, with the Warriors finishing with 52 wins, the Mavericks finishing with 52 wins and the Jazz finishing in fifth with 49 wins.

NBA standings 2022: Western Conference

(Current through April 7 games)

Seed Team Record Games back
1. Suns* 63-17
2. Grizzlies* 55-25 8
3. Warriors* 51-29 12
4. Mavericks* 50-30 13
5. Jazz* 48-32 15
6. Nuggets* 48-33 15.5
7. Timberwolves** 46-35 17.5
8. Clippers** 40-40 23
9. Pelicans** 36-44 27
10. Spurs** 34-46 29
Lakers 31-49 32
Kings 29-51 34
Trail Blazers 27-53 36
Thunder 24-56 39
Rockets 20-60 43

*clinched NBA Playoff berth
**clinched NBA Play-In berth

Eliminated from NBA Playoff contention: Kings, Lakers, Rockets, Thunder, Trail Blazers

Warriors tiebreakers and head-to-head records

Head-to-head record is the first tiebreaker. If teams split the season series, the next tiebreaker is higher winning percentage within the division if teams share a division. If they do not share a division, the tiebreaker is winning percentage in conference games.

Here is how the Warriors have fared against teams around them in the standings:

  • vs. Mavericks: 1-3; Lost the season series
  • vs. Jazz: 3-1; Won the season series
  • vs. Nuggets: 3-1; Lost the season series

Having lost the season series with the Mavericks and Nuggets, the Warriors will have to finish a full game ahead to stay in front of either one of them in the standings.

The Warriors are 3-1 against the Jazz this season.

Warriors remaining schedule

According to Tankathon, the Warriors have the ninth-easiest remaining schedule.

For comparison, the Jazz have the 11th-hardest remaining schedule while the Mavericks have the fourth-easiest and the Nuggets have the fifth-easiest.

You can find the Warriors' remaining schedule below.

Date Opponent Time (ET)
April 9 at Spurs 8:30 PM
April 10 at Pelicans 9:30 PM

Scott Rafferty

Scott Rafferty Photo

 

Scott Rafferty is an experienced NBA journalist who first started writing for The Sporting News in 2017. There are few things he appreciates more than a Nikola Jokic no-look pass, Klay Thompson heat check or Giannis Antetokounmpo eurostep. He's a member of the NBA Global team.