Far be it for us to be the voice of optimism, but, are you ready for this Warrior nation -- the playoffs are doable, this year. Just as others seem to be abandoning ship, we step in to illustrate how miracles can happen.

If not for some unkind scheduling that left the squad trying to keep up with Phoenix on the tail end of a home-and-road back-to-back, a surprisingly frequent scenario that has not been kind to them this year, the Warriors would most likely be sitting at 19-17 right now, two games over .500 this late in the season for the first time since 1993-1994 and in a virtual three-way tie for the seventh and eighth playoff spots. Unfortunately, it's hard to get respect when you haven't even sniffed the playoffs in 12 years.

It's hard to beat the Suns, period, let alone on the road with tired legs. So please overlook Sunday night's 128-105 sleepwalk through the Valley. It is just one minor setback, . . . on the way to the playoffs?

Yup. Check yourselves, but if the playoffs were to start today, the Warriors would be the first alternate (#9 seed). That's a moral victory right there. Yes, there are four more months of the season to play, but it's heartening to know they're still in the hunt. Many's the January of yore that Warrior fans wistfully pined for the lofty scent of .500 and just the faintest whisper of hope.

The number eight seed is so tantalizing close, we can almost feel it. And if you think that's hard to believe, we can even see a way for the Warriors to grab that spot in time for May. Standings grid from ESPN.com.

Let's crunch some numbers, because as weird as it feels to write this during the middle of a season, the Warriors' future is not unbright.