Warriors’ one‑and‑done path

Golden State has no margin left: the Warriors open the Western Conference play-in on Wednesday, April 15, as the No. 10 seed at the No. 9 Los Angeles Clippers, with the loser done. (nba.com) The game is at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, at 7 p.m. Pacific time on Prime Video. Golden State finished 37-45, and Los Angeles finished 42-40 after the Clippers beat the Warriors 115-110 on Sunday, April 12. (nba.com) (espn.com) Stephen Curry adds another variable: coach Steve Kerr said Curry will be on a minutes restriction Wednesday after returning from a right knee injury that cost him 27 games. Curry has played 26, 25, 27 and 29 minutes in his four games since coming back. (sports.yahoo.com) The play-in gives teams that finish seventh through 10th one last route into the bracket. In the No. 9 versus No. 10 game, the loser is eliminated immediately, and the winner must beat the loser of the No. 7 versus No. 8 game to claim the No. 8 seed. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) That means Golden State needs two road wins in three days to reach the playoffs. If the Warriors beat the Clippers, they would face the loser of the Phoenix Suns-Portland Trail Blazers game for the final Western Conference spot and a first-round series against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. (nbcsportsbayarea.com) (nba.com) The rematch came together quickly. Portland’s win over Sacramento on April 12 locked the Trail Blazers into the No. 8 seed through the head-to-head tiebreaker, leaving the Clippers at No. 9 and sending Golden State into the 9-10 game. (nbcsportsbayarea.com) The recent matchup offers a warning for Golden State. The Warriors tied Sunday’s game five times in the third quarter, but Los Angeles closed it out in the fourth, with Bennedict Mathurin scoring 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists off the bench. (nba.com) (espn.com) Curry led Golden State with 24 points in 29 minutes Sunday, his highest workload since returning. The Warriors also stayed in Los Angeles to practice Monday and Tuesday instead of flying back to the Bay Area between games. (nba.com) (nbcsportsbayarea.com) Golden State has been here before, but the path is narrower this time. Wednesday is the first elimination game, and with Curry not expected to reach 40 minutes, every non-Curry stretch gets heavier. (nbcsportsbayarea.com) (sports.yahoo.com)