The Golden State Warriors have been hot over the past two months since the arrival of Jimmy Butler, but they still face an uphill climb as far as making a deep postseason run.
They're in a hot race to avoid the play-in tournament, and on Wednesday, they suffered an inexcusable 114-111 loss to the lowly San Antonio Spurs. The loss dropped them into seventh place in the Western Conference, and it hurts all the more when one considers that the team's final regular-season game will be against the Los Angeles Clippers, who are one game ahead of it in fifth place.
Draymond Green, Golden State's longtime emotional leader, held his team accountable for its meek loss to San Antonio.
"Mess around with games in this league and you lose," Green said.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 10, 2025
The Spurs are wrapping up what has turned out to be a lost season for them with a rag-tag group of young players and aging veterans. Still, Golden State was only able to hit 41.9% of its shot attempts and shoot 33.3% from 3-point range on Wednesday.
It led 88-76 at the start of the fourth quarter and looked to be on its way to a relatively easy win. But it allowed the Spurs to claw their way back into the game, and after Green hit two free throws to tie the game at 111 with three seconds left, former Warrior Harrison Barnes hit a trey at the buzzer.
If the Warriors end up losing early in the playoffs or even losing in the play-in tournament, they will likely look back on this contest as the one that inexplicably got away.
