LOS ANGELES - Regardless of how poor their season has been, the Golden State Warriors are still the reigning National Basketball Association (NBA) champions, and they made sure every team knew that on Sunday.
Playing on the road in Portland, they roared into the NBA play-offs with a 157-101 blowout of the Trail Blazers, ensuring the Los Angeles Lakers will battle in the play-in despite a 128-117 victory over the Utah Jazz.
The Warriors had only one target in mind, and they set a league record of 55 points in the first quarter en route to securing the sixth seed in the Western Conference.
"We've played really well the last couple of weeks," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said on ESPN.
"We've won eight of 10. Today, guys were locked in right from the beginning. Guys knew what was at stake and controlled the game from the opening tap, so hopefully that carries over to next week."
All teams were in action on the final day of the regular season, but the focus was on the Western Conference, where more than a dozen potential seeding outcomes rested on the results of four games.
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