On Sunday's regular-season finale, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Utah Jazz by 123-116 with the help of Klay Thompson scoring 25 points with six three-pointers and Andrew Wiggins getting 19 points. By winning this match Golden State Warriors end their regular season in the No. 10 position as they make it into play-in spot. There was a chance for the Golden State Warriors to finish at the No. 8 position of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings could have lost their game.
After the Lakers won in New Orleans and the Sacramento Kings beat Portland at home, Golden State Warriors will travel to Sacramento Kings on Tuesday as the No. 10 seed to meet the ninth-seeded Kings in the Play-In Tournament. Last year, the Warriors won a dramatic first-round playoff series against their Northern California rivals in Game 7.
For this game, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has rest to Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, as they each played 74 regular-season games and 2,421 total minutes, the highest for the two-time MVP since 2016-17. This season, the Warriors have gone 1-3 in games without Green and Curry. As per AP News, “He could have played. If we had to play him, he would be playing,” Kerr said about Curry. “Given what we’re facing, it made no sense to put him out there today.”
Gary Payton II's availability for playoffs remained unknown
Golden State, which lost at home to New Orleans on Friday night for only the second time in 11 games, used its third starting lineup in three games. In place of Stephen Curry Chris Paul was added to the line-up as he scored six points, four rebounds, and six assists in 23 minutes of his play.
Keyonte George took the lead as he scored 21 points. However, the Utah Jazz missed out on entering playoffs for the second consecutive season. But managed to win their last two games out of three games following their streak of 13th losing games.
Golden State guard Gary Payton II missed his third consecutive game due to stiffness in his left calf, and his availability for the following week remained unknown.