Can the Golden State Warriors Become The West’s No. 5 Seed?

Mar 28, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) high fives forward Draymond Green (23) after a play against the Memphis Grizzlies during the fourth quarter at Oracle Arena. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 100-93. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The Golden State Warriors have eight games left in the regular season. The Portland Trail Blazers have seven games left. The Warriors are two games back, sitting in sixth place with a playoff matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers likely waiting. The Warriors, however, have a chance to make a run at the fifth seed with the Trail Blazers hitting some rough patches down the stretch. The Blazers went 8-9 in the month of March, allowing the Warriors, who have won 14 of their last 20 games, to make up ground.

Now, on-court production comes down to the final couple weeks of the regular season. If the Blazers continue to stumble and the Warriors keep playing at a high level, they could push themselves to the fifth seed. The questions are: will they win enough games? and will the Blazers continue to falter?

Schedule is the most important thing to look at besides team performance, which is clearly in the Warriors favor at this point in time. The schedule also seems in favor of the Warriors, albeit slightly. In their final six games of the season, the Blazers play three potential playoff teams. The Warriors play only two playoff teams in their final eight games. Overall, the schedules match up pretty similarly, with both teams expected to have some tough games.

Really, it comes down to performance.

It goes without saying that it is beneficial for the Golden State Warriors to come into the playoffs hot. Playing well at the end of the regular season does not just give a team a high seed, but also gives the team momentum heading into the playoffs. In this case, coming into the playoffs hot is more important than earning the higher seed.

In the Warriors case, there is a question of if it is even worth getting the fifth seed as opposed to the sixth. Instead of playing the Los Angeles Clippers, they would play the Houston Rockets, a team they have struggled with all season. The season series between the Warriors and Clippers is split at two to two. Only one game has been decided by single digit points, a two point Warrior win.

The season series against the Rockets sits in the Rocket’s favor by a two to one margin. Both Rocket wins were fairly convincing while it took the Warriors an overtime to get the best of the Rockets.

Of course, the Golden State Warriors should play hard to try and get momentum heading into the playoffs, but if they don’t get the five seed, no worries. It may turn out better as the six seed.

The Warriors will have to play their best if they are going to jump by the Portland Trail Blazers who are currently ahead of them in the standings.