Isn’t it odd that somehow by losing to the Los Angeles Clippers in the home finale on Sunday, the Golden State Warriors might have put their team in a better position to keep themselves vital in the NBA playoffs?

The NBA is 100 percent a league of matchups. And frankly, there are a number of teams that could lie ahead for the Dubs that they simply don’t match up with. The Houston Rockets, however, are not one of them.

The Warriors head to Houston for the first of a best-of-seven series against the hometown Rockets on Sunday. And guess what, the Warriors are favored to win the series.

There are reasons. There’s an old adage in sports that for a young team. The first time you play to get to the playoffs, and the next time you play to win. Only five Rockets have any playoff experience at all. And two of them were from the viewpoint of the bench.

The Warriors are so used to being in the postseason that they’d be safe adding “playoffs” to the preseason printed schedule.

I believe the Warriors will prevail in this series too.

My reasoning is this:

• I believe Steve Kerr is the best coach in the NBA at game planning for a short series against a given team. This is no longer a marathon. We’re down to sprinting.• It appears that Jimmy Butler is Mr. Playoffs. And the better news is that I believe Draymond Green and Steph Curry are too.

• I believe the supporting cast, despite being MIA a bit recently, can add the other element that’s necessary. Solid defense and an ability to provide a third scoring threat. I think one of either Buddy Hield, Brandin Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga or Quinten Post has to contribute on the offensive end, and Gary Payton II, Gui Santos, or Kevon Loony needs to be a defensive stopper. All are capable.

There are a couple of mysteries that are yet to reveal themselves that do cause me to not be quite so declarative in stating unequivocally that the Warriors will move on to Round 2.

The team is packing up and heading to Houston and the lingering question is, will Jonathan Kuminga be traveling as excess baggage?

Kerr is going to play those who he feels work within the confines of the system that he built. And in the two previous games, Kuminga has been sitting at the end of the bench between Braxton Key and Yuri Collins.

That is to say — he’s had as much playing time as team owner Joe Lacob — who also has a better seat.

The guess here is that for all he might contribute in terms of scoring, his on court presence is disruptive to what the coach sees in the big picture.

Kuminga will be a big scorer in this league. But, I suspect his biggest numbers will come while playing in another NBA uniform.

Finally, I must admit that when I see players like Green and Curry trussed up like a Christmas turkey, I get the feeling that they should have an EMT follow them up and down the court.

Green sits on the bench with his knees wrapped tighter than King Tut, and Curry has his aching thumb swathed in wrappings that, were he a bowler, could be career ending.

When he had eight turnovers against the Clippers last Sunday, I immediately diagnosed his injury as “Gamekeeper’s Thumb.” Okay, it wasn’t my diagnosis, it was that of my personal orthopedist, Dr. Robert Teasdale. Dr. Bob wasn’t actually giving a real diagnosis, but was guessing — based on the information I gave him.

I came by this wisdom because I once earned a merit badge in First Aid as a member of the Cub Scouts. I realize that was more than a couple of years back, but I feel on solid ground. Hippocrates was a member of my Cub Scout pack.

I theorized that in the act of shooting a basketball, the thumb is only a guide. The ball comes off the finger tips. Conversely in dribbling or passing, there’s some pressure on the thumb, which in the medical profession is referred to as an “Ow-ee.”

That, for me, explained the eight turnovers on Sunday. Dr. Bob explained to me that back and forth, and sideways movement of the thumb could cause swelling and pain. Or, in medical parlance, Gamekeeper’s Thumb.

Here’s how it all came down. Back in the day in Scotland, the gamekeepers would wring the necks of chickens. And apparently, too much chicken neck wringing often leads to a strain of the ulna collateral ligament. To the chagrin of the gamekeepers (and even more so to the chickens) it happened so often that a UCL strain became known as Gamekeeper’s Thumb.

Which brings us back to Curry.

I feel confident in saying that Curry’s injury did not involve chickens.

To the best of my knowledge, his injury was caused by a defender trying to separate the ball from his grasp, and in the process causing the ligament between the index finger and the thumb to have to make a choice between digits.

The good news is that in the Warrior’s win against Memphis to earn their way into the playoffs, Curry had but one turnover, and threw in 37 points just to show the world that in addition to everything else, he’s also the best four-fingered shooter in history.

So the Warriors are off to Houston with four days rest between games, they’re as healthy as any team can be at this juncture of the season, and despite being the seventh seed, are expected to win this series and move on.

The questions that remain are: Can Curry’s thumb hold up? Should Jonathan Kuminga bring along a pair basketball shoes or just the wingtips? Are Scottish gamekeepers trying to copyright the name of their injury? And, are the spared chickens singing Kumbaya in the henhouse?