The Golden State Warriors are officially back in the playoff mix with Jimmy Butler in town.
Warriors could take West’s No. 6 seed soon
The Athletic’s Anthony Slater reported this about the Warriors’ latest 128-92 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday in relation to their playoff positioning:
“Warriors crush the Hornets: 128-92. That’s 3-0 out of the break and 6-1 with Jimmy Butler. They’re within a half-game of the 6th spot in a jammed up West. Favorable five-game road trip next: at Magic, Sixers, Hornets, Knicks and Nets,” Slater wrote.
Butler’s impact on Warriors has been groundbreaking
The Marquette product has been Golden State’s saving grace. Prior to the Warriors’ trading for him, the Dubs went 13-23 after their hot 12-3 start to the campaign.
Encouragingly, Golden State has a relatively easy slate coming up. The Knicks are the only championship contenders that they will face. The sizable Magic will also pose problems for the Warriors with their domineering frontcourt.
Nevertheless, Butler’s ability to score in volume at a low usage, and play great defense has fit seamlessly with his new team and is exactly what they’ve been lacking.
Thus, the Warriors (31-27) dominating their upcoming competition could see them leapfrog the No. 7-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves (32-27) and Los Angeles Clippers (31-26) for the No. 6 seed. They also have the Houston Rockets (36-22) and Los Angeles Lakers (35-21) who are not out of reach entirely either.
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