The Golden State Warriors (16-13) and Portland Trail Blazers (18-10) picked up key wins Wednesday night to move up in the Western Conference standings. With Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard playing like MVP candidates, the two teams could be headed for the playoffs, despite dealing with significant injuries.

Golden State owns sole possession of the No.7 seed in the West following their 120-112 comeback victory over the Miami Heat (11-17). The Warriors overcame a 25-point halftime deficit as Curry was three rebounds shy of a 25-point triple-double.

Draymond Green didn’t play because of an ankle injury, missing his fifth game of the 2020-2021 season. Klay Thompson is missing his second straight full season.

Portland is the No.4 seed in the West, meaning it would have a home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs if the postseason started today. Lillard had 16 assists and 43 points, including the game-winning shot with 16.5 seconds left, to push the Trail Blazers past the New Orleans Hornets (12-16) 126-124.

CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic have both been out since mid-January. They were averaging a combined 36.5 points and 11.6 rebounds per game while shooting close to 48% from the field for Portland.

The Warriors and Blazers are separated by 2.5 games in the standings. The No.3 seed Los Angeles Clippers (21-9) have only one fewer loss than Portland. The defending champion Los Angeles Lakers (22-7) and Utah Jazz (24-5) have the best records in the conference.

Golden State and Portland might cruise to the playoffs if they were in the East. The Warriors’ record would be good for fourth in the lesser of the two conferences. The Blazers would have the East’s second seed, putting them just a half-game behind the No.1 seed Philadelphia 76ers (19-10).

It’s been the play of Curry and Lillard that have carried the two rivals.

Curry is second in the NBA with 30.0 points per game, in addition to his 5.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. Shooting 49.2% from the field and 42.5% from the three-point range, Curry is putting up numbers comparable to his unanimous 2016 MVP campaign.

Lillard ranks third in the NBA with 29.8 points per game. The point guard is averaging 7.7 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game.

Securing a top-six seed in the West is an automatic ticket to the playoffs. A short play-in tournament involving the No.7-No.10 seeds will determine the final two postseason berths after the regular season.

The No.6 seed San Antonio Spurs (16-11) are one game ahead of the Warriors and 1.5 games behind the Blazers.

Stephen Curry Damian Lillard
Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors is congratulated by Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers after Curry scored a career-high 62 points against the Portland Trail Blazers at Chase Center on January 03, 2021 in San Francisco, California. Ezra Shaw/undefined
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