Struggling Warriors appear locked in NBA purgatory as tough trip begins

HOUSTON – Kevin Durant has had a turbulent first season in Houston.

Privately, the future Hall of Famer has been accused of using anonymous social media accounts to trash his teammates. Publicly, his expressions of exasperation are a common sight as his Rockets coworkers brick shots or both defensive rotations.

But there is no argument that he would be better off around his old Warriors fling, who flirted with trading for him last February before moving on to Jimmy Butler.

While the Rockets enter Thursday’s home game seeded third in the West and winners of seven of 10, the visiting and hobbling Warriors (31-30) are clinging to the eighth seed after losing two in a row.

Steph Curry has missed the past 11 games and will be out at least another 10 days with runner’s knee.

Kristaps Porzingis has been sidelined since mid-February with what coach Steve Kerr has dubbed a “mysterious” health condition, after Porzingis previously disclosed that he has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. And of course, Butler is now rehabbing from a season-ending ACL tear.

Draymond Green’s offense has totally abandoned him of late – he is minus-107 in his last nine games played without Curry.

Youngsters Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos and Moses Moody – who is out Thursday with a wrist injury – have displayed noticeable improvement with increased opportunity since the calendar turned to 2026, but none are a franchise cornerstone for the post-Curry era.

These are not exactly ideal circumstances to begin a three-game trip that is shortly followed by a grueling six-games-in-nine-days gauntlet through much of the Eastern Conference.

It is the kind of scenario that would beget tanking for a better draft pick for many franchises whose top four players are either old, injured or both.

Not the Warriors.

“We have to find ways to be better, and get ready for the next one,” 39-year-old center Al Horford said after Monday’s loss to the Clippers. “We’re moving on to Houston and seeing how we can go in there, and compete, and get a win.”

A righteous desire to compete till the end isn’t the only reason the Warriors are shunning this approach.

Yes, the Warriors entered Wednesday night just 1.5 games ahead of the Clippers and just 2.5 above the Blazers for the No. 8 seed, which requires just one play-in victory to reach the playoffs. But there is no realistic way Golden State tumbles to the No. 11 seed, out of the play-in tournament entirely and into better lottery odds.

The shorthanded Warriors dismantled the lifeless Grizzlies in southwest Tennessee by 20 points a week ago. Memphis is 23-37, 7.5 games back of the Warriors and obviously tanking after trading Jaren Jackson Jr. at the deadline.

Even if the Warriors stumble against both the contending Rockets and Thunder to begin the trip, they finish with a likely victory over the Jazz, whose desire not to field a competitive team has caught the eye of the league office.

The Warriors are thus persisting in the oddest of spots between the tankers and the contenders during the playoff push.

They’re stuck making the postseason.

Can’t worry about the uncertainties or the unknowns of the season,” Podziemski said. “At least that’s how I approach it and I just try to go out there and give it my best every night.”