The Stretch Run

After dusting off the Atlanta Hawks 135-118, the Warriors look to extend their winning streak tonight against Jason Richardson and the Charlotte Bobcats. The Warriors cannot afford to drop any of this type of game, seeing as the Western Conference is tighter than Mr. Comiskey's wallet. The standings, through 3/5:

1. * San Antonio --
2. * LA Lakers --
3. New Orleans 2.0
4. * Utah 4.0
5. Phoenix 2.5
6. Houston 3.0
7. Dallas 4.0
8. Golden State 5.0
9. Denver 7.0
10. Portland 12.0

Precarious, no?

---
All right, here we go. The Warriors just lost to the Charlotte Bobcats (see: losing the night after notching a good win), but I won’t go into that. All I can say is, losing to the Bobcats certainly isn’t going to help the Warriors in the playoff standings tonight, as Houston is 46 seconds away from a blowout win, Denver is leading Phoenix through the 3rd, and Utah is on cruise control against the Wolves. The Denver/Phoenix situation is bi-faceted in that Denver will move up and Phoenix will move down, so take your pick.

I’ve broken down the Warriors’ remaining 22 games into three categories. If it starts to look like college admissions, then yeah, that is the analogy I am trying to make.

Reach (6): @ LA Lakers, LA Lakers, Dallas, @ San Antonio, @ Dallas, @ New Orleans
Target (9): @ Miami, @ Orlando, Toronto, @ Phoenix, Houston, Portland, @ Denver, Denver, @ Phoenix
Safety (7): Memphis, @ Sacramento, @ LA Clippers, @ Memphis, Sacramento, LA Clippers, Seattle

Winnable games are in blue, push games in orange, probable losses in plain text.

"Should" schedule: 12-4-6
"Should" record: 49-29 (+4 push games)

Of course, this chart is what “should” happen if we are talking about a normal team, but the Warriors MO is this: play to the level of competition. My guess is that we blow a couple games but win a few we don’t deserve. In any case, the Western Conference will be a thrilling competition for the last month and a half.

Questions: Will this be good enough to sneak into the Western playoffs?