Stephen Curry and the Warriors are favored at home vs. the Clippers. The winner of this one will likely avoid the play-in games.
Sunday afternoon’s matchup between the Clippers (49-32) and the Warriors (48-33) is not the only one across the league that will feel like a playoff matchup.
This one, however, arguably has the most at stake of any of the 15 NBA games taking place today as the regular season wraps up.
The Clippers could finish as high as fourth in the West if they win and Denver loses to the Rockets, but a loss likely would result in the Clips starting the postseason with a play-in matchup.
The Warriors can’t finish worse than seventh in the Western Conference, even if they lose this game, but they need a win to finish sixth (and safe from play-in action). A top-four finish in the standings guarantees homecourt advantage in the first-round, while a top-six finish means getting to avoid the play-in round.
The Clippers all won all three previous meetings between these teams this year, but those victories came against the Jimmy Butler-less version of the Warriors.
We haven’t quite reached the postseason yet, but we’ve seen recent several appearances from Playoff Jimmy.
