<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>At five games over .500, the Warriors are at a level they never reached last season. They have 11 road wins in 19 games compared with 12 in 41 a year ago. They're scoring more points than they're allowing for the first time since 1993-94. And as of Thursday morning, in a Western Conference that's growing tougher by the day, that was good enough to net Golden State the same eighth-place seeding it claimed last season. So despite making significant improvements in several areas, the Warriors - so far, at least - have been running just to stand still. "We're definitely not in the playoffs," Warriors Coach Don Nelson said. "We need to play at a higher level, and even then, we're still talking about the last spot or two. (The West) is loaded this year. It's probably going to take 45 wins to make (the playoffs)." There would be no better time to collect some of those necessary victories than right now, when the Warriors (19-14) are in the midst of a seven-game referendum on their playoff worthiness against other Western Conference contenders. After splitting a home-and-home with Denver (19-12), beating Houston (15-17) and losing to Dallas (21-11), the Warriors have New Orleans (21-11) coming up tonight at Oracle Arena, followed by a visit from San Antonio (21-9) and finally a trip to Portland (20-13). "We just realize that if we want to continue to get the respect around the league that we're one of the elite teams in the West, then we've got to come out and win at least four or five of these games," forward Al Harrington said. "Right now we're 2-2, so we have no wiggle room at this point." Guard Kelenna Azubuike said: "We're right on the cusp here. These are definitely important games, and we need to come in with a sense of urgency in every one of them." The Warriors' play of late has been a good news/bad news affair. In the former category, they are enjoying as much road success as any team in franchise history, on pace to tie the Golden State single-season record with 24 victories away from home. In the latter column, they've been posting many of those wins in a grind-it-out fashion, constantly falling behind early and having to dig themselves out over the final three quarters. "I think it's good because we're winning in different ways," forward Matt Barnes said. "Last year, if we weren't at our best, we weren't going to win. This year, we've beaten pretty good teams while not playing a complete game." That may not work against the Hornets, the only Western Conference team the Warriors have yet to face this season and one of two teams that have leapfrogged past Golden State and into playoff contention this season. "We're playing good enough to win at the end of the day - it's all about wins and losses - but obviously we could be playing at a better level, and I think that that's going to come," Harrington said. "Our best basketball games are ahead of us. We've just got to find a way to steady the course until we get on fire."</div> Source: San Jose Mercury News
