LOS ANGELES – With one order of business now out of the way, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors will give one last shot at simplifying their path forward.
The teams will meet on April 9 (April 10 morning, Singapore time) in Los Angeles, with long-shot hopes still alive to earn a top-six spot in the Western Conference and an automatic berth in the play-offs that come with it.
At the very least, improving their play-in tournament seed remains a possibility.
For now, the Lakers (45-34) and Warriors (43-35) at least have wrapped up a spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament as the regular-season draws to a close. But spots 7-10 still have play-in work to do in order to officially earn the final two seeds in the traditional conference play-offs.
The Lakers had a prime chance to move closer to the Phoenix Suns’ hold on the No. 6 spot, but they fell 127-117 at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves on April 7.
Los Angeles led after one quarter but had to play the final three periods without star Anthony Davis, who took a blow to his left eye for the second time in three weeks. The Lakers already were playing without the ill LeBron James.
The loss of Davis meant the Lakers were without a player who had 27 points and 25 rebounds in the previous meeting against the Timberwolves.
“He’s extremely valuable,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “Everyone around here knows that. Everything he brings on both sides of the ball, it’s tough. Already being without Bron and seeing him go out, it’s tough.”
It remains to be seen if the Lakers star duo will be available to face the Warriors, with the team listing both players as questionable.
Golden State officially clinched a play-in spot early on April 7 when the Houston Rockets lost 147-136 in overtime to the Dallas Mavericks. They went out and celebrated with a 118-110 home victory over the Utah Jazz, as Stephen Curry was given a day of rest.
Klay Thompson scored 32 points for the Warriors, his most in his seven games since returning to a starting role. It was actually his most since scoring 35 against the Jazz on Feb 15, in the first game after he was moved into a reserve role following a shooting slump.
“I think we’re playing the best brand of basketball we have played all season and I am going to be very confident going into the play-in,” he said.
“I’m not going to say we’re better than last year because we haven’t advanced further than that.”
The Warriors moved into the Western Conference semi-finals last season as a No. 6 seed but were eliminated by the Lakers, who were a play-in team.
On April 7, the Warriors saw Jonathan Kuminga return from knee tendinitis and score 21 points on nine-of-11 shooting while adding 10 rebounds off the bench. It was his fifth double-double of the season and the seventh of his career.
In addition to Curry’s absence, the Warriors also were playing without Andrew Wiggins (ankle) and Dario Saric (knee). REUTERS
