Priority task to do: Win the remaining three games of the 2024-25 regular season. Alas, the Golden State Warriors have already failed the first one. Losing to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday has thrown them into turmoil as they trickle down from the fifth to sixth, and now the seventh position in the West. With this, the playoffs look distant. Now, the next two games will decide where Stephen Curry & Co. stand: the playoffs or the play-in. And theoretically, it’s simple.

“If you win, good things happen.” Jimmy Butler too concluded. But it’s just that, a theory. At this point, there is no doubt that the West is a jumbled mess and amongst the five teams are the Warriors, trying to hold onto whatever rope they could find as they continue drowning into the play in ranks. There only hope now? The final two regular season games and a positive outcome from them.

Now entering the last stretch of the regular season, the Dub Nation could end up at the third spot, given everything goes favorably for them. Or they could end up in the eighth place, deep in the play-in tournaments, which everyone wants to dodge. While it is interesting to see how since Butler’s trade, the team has looked much better, they continue to lose more than they would like to. And as we enter the last two games, Stephen Curry has a message for his locker room.

The 37-year-old point guard said after his game, “We know where we’re at. We know that every game is important. It’s been important for the last two weeks. And we’ve done a lot to give ourselves a chance to climb pretty high, considering where we were before the trade deadline. And these last two home game, it s—- for different reasons and tonight, two games you feel like are winnable and should have won. and I don’t know how to impact the ending where we end up after Sunday. We’ve got two games, we got to win them both. (Let’s) see what happens, just made it a little hard on ourselves.”

The Warriors are rising to the occasion, but since the trade, one of the best things that have happened to the team is their Golden Boy regaining his confidence. He is currently averaging 24.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 6 assists per game. Not to mention, despite the defenses he’s had to face since, he has been dominant on the hardwood. In April’s 6 games so far, he’s averaged about 30.5 points per game on 48% shooting from the field and 41.6 % from beyond the arc. But still, Golden State has not come up to reciprocate the efforts and now they only have 2 chances to ink their name in the history books.

With two games left, “you can kind of narrow it down to—it’s 48 minutes on Friday that’s going to be important. Sunday is the same. We’ve had a very professional approach and a very consistent level we’ve been playing at,” Steph emphasized.

What looked like a perfectly winnable game turned out to be a postseason nightmare for the Dubs. From leading the show 74-88 to losing 111-114, Chase Center watched their home boys fall. However, Stephen Curry, as impressive as always, chipped in with 30 points. Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green scored 28 and 13 points, respectively. Meanwhile, speaking to the media after the game, Curry’s stance was clear, and that is, the next two games are going to be crucial, and winning is the need of the moment.

He also confessed: “Our execution tonight just wasn’t great, and a good team will bounce back from it and take care of business these next two and then go from there. So, we have to prove that we’re a good team.” Curry keeps it simple: the team maintains a consistent, professional mindset and stays locked in despite the pressure to reach their target. And Steph seems to have a plan.

So, the Warriors face Portland on Friday and the Clippers on Sunday. It is clear that none of these rivals are going to be easy, especially LA, who are fifth in the West and are looking for a playoff spot as well.

At the same time, Stephen Curry didn’t hide the flaws in the Golden State Warriors‘ game. He said bad spacing and a falter on his part did considerable damage. They were trying to “set up a play to get Jimmy the ball, have some action around,” but failed. “You know, that stuff happens. Tough timing, obviously. But it honestly shouldn’t come down to those three possessions, even though we still had a chance to win,” Curry further chipped in.

But for Draymond Green, things aren’t all bright and sunny. He didn’t mince words and pointed out the mistakes that led to Wednesday’s debacle.

Draymond Green’s honest take on the Warriors’ loss vs. Spurs

So, when did the game start going downhill for the Warriors? Was it the first or second quarter when the San Antonio Spurs took the lead at 46-41? According to Draymond Green, it “didn’t happen in the fourth quarter. It happened in the second quarter. At the end of the first and second quarters, we just start giving up straight-line drives. They found a rhythm. That’s when it happened.”

He blamed their defensive lapses, allowing drives that helped the opponents find a rhythm. Though the Warriors regained the lead, he admitted they got too casual. “We found a way to get the lead back, but we never mess around with games,” Dray confessed. “Mess around with games in this league, you lose. So, that’s what happened, guys.” Simply put, in the NBA, if you fool around too much, opponents will come back to bite you.

However, playing the non-Steph minutes on Wednesday, despite Jimmy Butler’s presence, cost them a bit too much. “Couldn’t get a stop; couldn’t get into anything good offensively. Couldn’t get a stop,” Green admitted. Draymond said they struggled in the non-Steph minutes, failing to get stops or generate anything offensively. He highlighted a complete lack of rhythm on both ends.

With two do-or-die games ahead, the Warriors walk a tightrope—poised between redemption and regret. The message from Curry and Draymond is loud and clear: no more slip-ups because in the ruthless theater of the NBA, the curtain drops fast on those who hesitate.