The Golden State Warriors dropped an extremely winnable game on Tuesday night to the Chicago Bulls. Despite leading by as many as 8 points in the waning minutes, the Warriors couldn't pull out the victory in overtime, losing 130-124.

The loss dropped the Warriors to below .500 for the first time since December at 32-33, and solidified their position as the 9th seed in the Western Conference. They're now an entire game behind the Los Angeles Clippers for 8th, only 1.5 games ahead of the 10th-seed Trail Blazers, and a nearly insurmountable 7.5 games away the 6th seed that would get them out of the Play-In Tournament.

After the disappointing loss, Gary Payton II was asked what the mood was like in the locker room, but took a more forward-facing approach in his answer.

"We can't feel sorry for ourselves. We do things in quarters. Little mental breakdowns that those possessions come back later in the game when the game is close. We take care of the little things throughout the game, but those add up during the course of the game. Things like tonight happen, where it's one-possession games and things just don't go our way."

Payton went on to talk about how optimistic he feels about the Warriors' chances down the stretch to make a run heading into the playoffs.

"We know if we play the right way, we can be in any game. Just finish out the season strong. Late second half, clean up on some of the mental things and I think we'll put ourselves in a great position to close games."

Though the Warriors are essentially locked into a top-10 finish in the Western Conference, thanks to being 8.5 games ahead of the 11th-seed Memphis Grizzlies, the 8-10 spots that the Warriors are now grouped in are still in flux, and can make a big difference once the Play-In Tournament rolls around.

If they want the best chance of making it to the actual playoffs, and even have a shot of avoiding the Oklahoma City Thunder in a 7-game series, they'll need to at least climb back to the 8th seed, but that might be too tall a task with Steph Curry's recent injury update.

The Warriors' leader is going to be out another 10 days, meaning at least 5-6 games will be missed. This coincides with a long East Coast road trip in which the Warriors will play the three top teams in the opposing conference, not to mention the upcoming game against the Minnesota Timberwolves before that.

Curry has continuously expressed an eagerness to play in the Play-In Tournament and hopefully will the Warriors to the playoffs, but his job might become much harder if the Warriors have to win two games in a row, especially if it's two straight road games in the event the Warriors drop to No. 10 by the season's end.