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Group Hopes Warriors Playoff Run Keeps Team In Oakland

OAKLAND (KCBS) — With the Golden State Warriors hosting their first playoff games since 2007, Oakland sports boosters hope to use the occasion to gain support for keeping the team in the East Bay.

"Warrior fans are so great anyways. I mean they support that team like no other Bay Area team," said Bryan Cauwels, vice president of Save Oakland Sports.

Cauwels said his group will be outside Oracle Arena before the tipoff of Friday night's Game 3 against the Denver Nuggets, urging fans to encourage the Warriors to stay in Oakland.

Oakland Sports Boosters Hope Warriors' Playoff Home Games Influence Keeping Team In East Bay

"It's a really great opportunity for us as an organization to be able to go out, reach out and be at the game with their fans and see where they're at. And we know that a lot of their fans come from the East Bay," he said.

The Warriors want to build a new 17,500 seat arena at Piers 30 and 32 in San Francisco, with the hope of opening the venue for the 2017 season. The proposal still faces a long road before it is approved.

Entering Friday's game, the Warriors and Nuggets are tied at one game apiece in the Western Conference quarterfinal series. This is the second time in 19 seasons that the Warriors have made the playoffs.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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