Warriors Not 'Senior Citizens'

Golden State Bank on Veterans Like Curry and Butler to Clinch Play-off Spot

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LOS ANGELES - The Golden State Warriors acquired Jimmy Butler at the National Basketball Association (NBA) trade deadline in an attempt to land a top-six Western Conference play-off berth.

Butler made the appropriate impact, but Golden State fell short of their goal and were relegated to the play-in tournament.

The seventh-seeded Warriors now take the hard path into the postseason and face the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies on April 15 (April 16, Singapore time) in San Francisco.

The winners of that contest will earn the No. 7 play-off spot in the West and play the No. 2 Houston Rockets in the first round.

The Warriors went 23-7 in games played by Butler following the deal to obtain him from the Miami Heat.

Even all that success could not get them an automatic berth. The Warriors (48-34) fell one game short of the No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves.

Golden State also missed out on a chance to rest and refuel by having to play the Grizzlies (48-34) and possibly a second game in the play-in portion of the season.

Veteran Draymond Green made it clear that is a non-issue.