How Warriors shook up West's play-in picture with win over Lakers

The win on Tuesday also gave the Warriors the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Lakers, which could be critical with the teams finishing with identical records looking like a very realistic scenario. 

So, what would it take for the Warriors to clinch the seventh or eighth seed?  

The Warriors would have to go 3-0 in their final three games and hope for the Suns to go 0-3, the Kings 1-2, and the Lakers 1-1. If that exact scenario plays out, the Warriors would climb to seventh.

Realistically, it would be a tall ask for the Dubs to surpass Sacramento or Phoenix. Despite splitting the regular-season series against the Kings, Mike Brown's team holds the tiebreaker due to a better record within the Pacific Division. Similarly, the Suns beat the Warriors 3-1 in the regular season.  

That said, several factors are working in the Warriors' favor. For starters, they will face two lottery-bound teams — the Trail Blazers and Jazz — in their final three games, and their only tough match-up, against the Pelicans, will be a home game. 

On the flip side, the Suns must deal with three winning teams — the Clippers, Kings and Timberwolves — in their final three outings. The Kings, too, will have to contend with two winning teams — the Pelicans and Suns — and have only one "gimme game" against the Blazers to close out the season.

Furthermore, the Warriors are fully healthy for the first time in the season, as opposed to the Kings (Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter), the Suns (Jusuf Nurkic) and the Lakers (Anthony Davis, Jarred Vanderbilt) who are limping to the finish line. 

By climbing to seventh or eighth, the Warriors would need only one win in the play-in to advance to the playoffs, as opposed to needing to win in a single-game elimination scenario as ninth or tenth in addition to adding another win against the loser of the 7-8 matchup.

Fasten your seatbelts. The final week of the season promises to be a doozy.