Warriors-Grizzlies Preview: Battle for the Eight Seed

The final game of this 72-game season has arrived, as the Warriors face the Grizzlies at home Sunday afternoon at 12:30. This is the most important game that the Warriors have played all season, as the winner will claim the 8th seed going into the play-in tournament and the loser falling to the 9th seed.

The Warriors and Grizzlies have both won seven of their last ten and each come into this game with an NBA best 5-game winning streak. The Grizzlies beat the Raptors, Pelicans, and Mavericks before winning two straight against the Kings. The Warriors won back-to-back games over the Thunder before scoring impressive wins over the Suns and Jazz.

They then won against the Pelicans even without Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Andrew Wiggins. All three will be back for Sunday night’s pivotal matchup, as well as Eric Paschall, who returned for the first time from an extended absence on Friday night against the Pelicans.

Another interesting storyline to watch tomorrow night is Steph Curry’s pursuit of the scoring title. At 31.8 points/game, he is currently .4 points/game ahead of the second place Bradley Beal. The Warriors will need a strong performance from Curry if they want to win this game, and the scoring title only adds a little extra motivation.

The Grizzlies are lead by young star point guard Ja Morant, who with Curry will make a very exciting point guard battle. Dillon Brooks and Jonas Valanciunas are the two next biggest scorers on the Grizzlies, and both Kyle Anderson and the recently returned Jaren Jackson Jr. are versatile and talented players. The Grizzlies, similarly to the Warriors, were able to rest their best players in their penultimate game, setting up an exciting matchup between two well-rested teams.

The winning team will deservingly claim that 8th seed, and will play either the Trail Blazers or the Lakers in the first play-in game. The loser will face the Spurs.