Why the Warriors' Injury Crisis is the Blazers' Best Path to the Playoffs

The Portland Trail Blazers are enjoying some time off after beating the Los Angeles Clippers inside the Intuit Dome.

The Blazers will get a much-needed day of rest as they prepare for their next matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans at home. In the meantime, they will likely have their eyes on the game between Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs when they visit the Golden State Warriors, who are shorthanded without Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler due to knee injuries.

The Blazers are still trying to fight off the Warriors in the play-in tournament standings. As of now, the team is two games behind the Blazers, but Portland has also played two more games than Golden State has. The Warriors find themselves at 36-39 through 75 games, while the Blazers are 39-38 through 77 games.

Depending on how the matchup turns out, this could be an opportunity for the Warriors to inch closer to the Blazers in the standings. They won't have it easy against the Spurs, who have won nine consecutive games, but they need the win to keep pace with the Blazers in the Western Conference play-in picture.

Blazers Can Build Distance From Warriors

Portland Trail Blazers center Yang Hansen is surrounded by Golden State Warriors center Quinten Post. | David Gonzales-Imagn Images

The way the play-in tournament works is that the seventh seed plays the eighth seed. The eighth seed and the ninth seed play the tenth seed. The winner of the 7-8 game will advance to the playoffs as the seventh seed, while the loser faces the winner of the 9-10 game.

The Blazers are trying to do everything in their power to be eighth place so that they will have two chances to qualify for the playoffs and a chance to defend home court during that process.

However, if the Clippers were to finish higher than them in the standings (which they currently are, a half game ahead of Golden State in a potential 9-10 game), it would be in the Blazers' best interest to play that game at the Moda Center rather than the Chase Center. Anytime the Warriors lose between now and the regular season is helpful for the Blazers and their playoff hopes.

The Blazers have the season tiebreaker over the Warriors after winning three of the four meetings between the two teams.

Therefore, the Blazers will be rooting for Wembanyama and the Spurs when they face off against the Warriors inside the Chase Center. Stephen Curry's long absence will help the Spurs win and the Blazers get one step closer towards their goal of advancing out of the play-in tournament.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT. Fans can watch the game on ESPN or stream it on the ESPN app.