Here's why the Spurs' loss to the Warriors will keep them from the No. 1 seed

The Spurs won’t be the No. 1 seed. That dream is dead, and the Warriors killed it in San Antonio on Wednesday.

With the win, Golden State stands 3.5 games ahead of San Antonio, while being up three games in the loss column. The Spurs have the tiebreaker, but even if they won out, the Warriors would have to lose at least three of their final seven outings. Here are their final seven games, which include a couple tricky ones, but leave them plenty of room to maneuver.

• March 31: vs. Rockets
• April 2: vs. Wizards
• April 4: vs. Timberwolves
• April 5: at Suns
• April 8: vs. Pelicans
• April 10: vs. Jazz
• April 12: vs. Lakers

Three games come against teams within the top 10 of the NBA, but Golden State has dominated the Rockets this year. Likewise, you’d imagine they would win at least one of their games against Utah and Washington. Even if they drop a trap game against the Suns, or something like that, they could afford it and still survive if San Antonio is perfect.

If the Spurs aren’t perfect, the unlikely odds of them recovering to tie things up against Golden State becomes virtually impossible. Given the Spurs plays four games on the road — and face Utah twice and the Clippers once — they’d need to really come with their best basketball to do so.

Wednesday could have gone another direction. The Warriors started the game totally unable to make shots, going down 23-3 and then 33-17 in the first quarter. But San Antonio wilted in the second half, and that’s it. With a chance to draw within 1.5 games of Golden State, the Spurs couldn’t do it — and now the race for the No. 1 seed feels like it’s just about over.

Golden State is the first team since Michael Jordan’s Bulls to have three straight 60-win seasons, which it accomplished last game. That’s an incredible accomplishment, and they’re on their way to taking the No. 1 overall seed in the NBA once again, as well.