On April 22, 2007, the Warriors played their first playoff game in 12 years, and beat the Dallas Mavericks 97-85, holding MVP Dirk Nowitzki to just 4-of-16 shooting, making it 6 straight against the NBA best 67 game winners. But the Warriors were crushed by the Mavericks in Game 2 when both Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson were ejected from the game. Then the Warriors bounced back by winning both Game 3 and 4 at home, putting Dallas on the brink of elimination. A close Game 5 saw the Mavericks eke out a 6-point win of 118-112 to send the 3-2 series back to California. On May 3, 2007, the Warriors, with the help of their explosive third quarter, eliminated the Mavericks and became the first #8 seed to beat a #1 seed in a seven-game series. This was the Warriors' first playoff series win in 16 years, and their first 7 game series win since 1976. The Warriors went on to play the Utah Jazz in the second round of the 2006-2007 playoffs.

Facing the Utah Jazz in the Conference Semifinals, the Warriors dropped two close games at EnergySolutions Arena to open the series. The Warriors had the chance to win both games late. In Game 1, Stephen Jackson missed a wide open 3 pointer that would have put the Warriors ahead with 6 seconds left. In Game 2, the Warriors led by 5 with 15 seconds left, but missed free throws allowed Jazz to tie the game and eventually win in overtime. The series then shifted to the Oracle Arena, where the Warriors won Game 3 in a convincing blowout. The Warriors went on to lose Game 4 at home, in what was their first loss in Oakland in well over a month. The Jazz closed out the Warriors in Game 5 in Salt Lake City. In the end, the physical play of the Jazz simply wore down the smaller Warriors.