Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
Golden State Secures the No. 3 Seed in the Western Conference Playoffs
The Golden State Warriors have officially secured their playoff seeding.
After a 128-107 win over the hosting New Orleans Pelicans Sunday Night at Smoothie King Center, Golden State locked down the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. The Warriors will match up against either the Denver Nuggets or Utah Jazz in the first round.
The Warriors entered Sunday’s game with a one-game lead over the Dallas Mavericks, who took on the San Antonio Spurs in their final game of the regular season. A win for Golden State or a loss for the Mavericks was primed to determine the seeding for the No. 3 and 4 seeds.
Dallas held the tie-breaker over the Warriors having won three of the four games between the two franchises this year.
The Warriors did not leave things in the Mavericks’ hands, though behind 41 and 22 points from Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole, respectively.
For Thompson, scoring over 29 points allowed the Warriors’ star to average at least 20 points this season — the sixth time he’s achieved this feat in as many years.
The playoff berth comes as the first for Golden State in two years after being eliminated from the play-in tournament last season at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies, who secured the No. 2 seed this year after passing the Warriors in the standings before the All-Star break.
As the No. 3 seed, the Warriors will have home-court advantage in at least the first round and will host their first playoff game at Chase Center since its opening in 2019.
