Warriors, Grizzlies clash in play-in opener

MANILA, Philippines — The Golden State Warriors acquired Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline in an attempt to land a top-six Western Conference playoff berth.

Butler made the appropriate impact, but Golden State fell short of its goal and was relegated to the play-in tournament. The seventh-seeded Warriors now take the hard path into the postseason and face the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night in San Francisco.

The winner of Tuesday’s contest will earn the No. 7 playoff spot in the West and play the No. 2 Houston Rockets in the first round.

The Warriors went 23-7 in games played by Butler following the deal to obtain him from the Miami Heat.

Even all that success couldn’t get Golden State an automatic berth. The Warriors (48-34) fell one game short of the No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves.

Golden State also misses out on a chance to rest and refuel by having to play the Grizzlies (48-34) and possibly a second game in the play-in portion of the festivities.

Veteran forward Draymond Green made it clear that is a non-issue.

“We’ll be fine,” Green told reporters after Sunday’s 124-119 overtime home loss to the Los Angeles Clippers pushed Golden State into the play-in round. “Playoffs, you’re playing no back-to-backs or anything like that so just got to get there. We’ll be alright. We’re not senior citizens. We’re high-level basketball players.

“We’ve been training all year for this. No disrespect to the senior citizens, by the way. We love our senior citizens.”

Still, the Warriors are relying on 37-year-old Stephen Curry, the 35-year-old Butler and the 35-year-old Green to make a postseason run.