<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>OAKLAND -- Warriors coach Don Nelson has a running joke with his staff that requires an update to the punch line after every victory, such as the one Golden State laid on Portland on Sunday evening to achieve a record of 36-22 this season. "Like I tell the coaches after every game, 'That's 35 more than I thought we'd win,'" Nelson said. There's no joking about the Western Conference playoff field this season, of course. That's why the Warriors, despite being 14 games over .500 for the first time in 11/2 decades, are shooting for a 14-10 finish or better over their final two dozen games, beginning tonight in Atlanta. "I thought if we got the same number of wins as we did last year (42), we'd be right in where we want to be, but that's just not true," said Nelson, who has analyzed the schedules of teams caught in the race for seventh and eighth place in the West. "It looks like it's going to be 50 games to get in -- 49, 50, 48. It's going to be a high number."</div> Source
I'm not so much concerned with how we do against certain teams, but in stockpiling wins. Hard to believe with the Warriors record, but it could come down to one game which determines which team gets in the playoffs. We need to beat the weaker teams and get the W. The Warriors have 22 games remaining, but there's a killer stretch starting March 21. GSW will face the Rockets, Lakers twice, Trail Blazers, Nuggets, Mavericks twice and the Spurs. The Mavs aren't the same team as last year with Jason Kidd, so we can't expect the same like in the playoffs. Some of these games will be like playoff games as it could come down to one game again in the stretch. BTW is today the last day for picking up a free agent for the playoffs? Mullin needs to get us a backup PG or someone else in case Webber's creaky knees give out.
