The NBA In-Season Tournament is set to move on to the next stage with two teams having already booked their berths for the quarter-finals. The Los Angeles Lakers in the West and the Indiana Pacers in the East are teams with undefeated records in their respective groups, thus advancing to the next stage of the knockouts. However, what are the chances of the Golden State Warriors advancing to the next stage?
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The Golden State Warriors are currently third in the West Group C, with a 2-1 record. However, there is a chance that the Dubs can progress to the next stage if certain situations favor them. The Warriors’ Twitter (now X) account recently posted a tweet discussing the two scenarios that can help the Dubs advance into the QF.
The first scenario for the Dubs to advance would be if the Oklahoma City Thunder win their game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. In that case, a win against the Sacramento Kings would guarantee a berth for the Dubs in the KOs.
The second scenario would be if the Timberwolves win against the Thunder. In that case, the Warriors would have to register a win against the Kings. However, in this case, a three-way tie would be the outcome in Group C, with the point differential deciding which team wins the group.
One more game left in In-Season Tournament group play. Here’s the situation:
◾️ If the Thunder win against the Timberwolves, the Dubs would advance to the Quarterfinals with a win over the Kings.
◾️ If the Timberwolves win against the Thunder, the Dubs would need to win against… pic.twitter.com/kaajFnQ5Ie
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) November 25, 2023
There are currently six teams in the West vying for the two spots and the one wildcard spot for the quarter-finals. Given the chance of winning cash prizes from the next stage onwards, it’s highly unlikely any team would like to give up on such an opportunity. Hence, the Warriors must be at their best against highly competitive teams, vying for the prize pool and the trophy in this In-Season tournament.
The Warriors do not care about the cash prize from the In-Season tournament
While the In-Season tournament’s prize pool is lucrative, not everyone in the league is driven by the cash incentive. In fact, the feeling of winning another trophy, especially in the tournament’s first edition drives the Golden State Warriors to keep playing so hard.
In an interaction with the NBCS, Warriors player Jonathan Kuminga revealed that the tournament games were as important as any other matchup. In fact, no one in the locker room was quite concerned about winning the cash prize either. Speaking to the press, Kuminga said, “I haven’t seen nobody complaining about losing in-season and stuff like that. Nobody thinking about the money. We all want to win so we can have a good break.”
On the other hand, the Lakers are excited for the next stages because of the cash incentive involved. Now that the Lakeshow have already qualified for the QF, the players can rest assure that they have secured $50,000 off of this tournament. The next challenge lies in conquering the semi-finals and finals berths, each guaranteeing $200,000 and $500,000, respectively.
