Warriors vs. Clippers set

Golden State will play at Los Angeles in the Western Conference 9-versus-10 play-in game on Wednesday, April 15, with the loser eliminated. (nba.com) The National Basketball Association’s 2026 play-in format puts the No. 9 team at home against the No. 10 team, and only the winner advances to Friday’s final play-in round for the No. 8 seed. Los Angeles finished 42-40 and Golden State finished 37-45. (nba.com) The matchup was locked in after Sunday’s regular-season finale, when the Clippers beat the Warriors 115-110 at Intuit Dome and Portland’s 122-110 win over Sacramento pushed Los Angeles below the No. 8 line. Portland and the Clippers both finished 42-40, but Portland owned the tiebreaker on Western Conference record. (espn.com) That left the Western Conference bracket with Phoenix at No. 7, Portland at No. 8, the Clippers at No. 9 and the Warriors at No. 10. The winner of Clippers-Warriors will face the loser of Suns-Trail Blazers on Friday, April 17, for the conference’s last playoff berth. (nba.com) The stakes are immediate because teams seeded seventh through 10th do not get a standard seven-game series to open the postseason. In this part of the bracket, Golden State has to win once to stay alive and twice to reach the playoffs that begin April 18. (nba.com) Sunday’s game also showed the recent shape of the matchup. Stephen Curry led Golden State with 24 points in 29 minutes, while Los Angeles got 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists from Bennedict Mathurin off the bench. (nba.com, espn.com) The Clippers took the season series 3-1 and have won 10 of the last 11 meetings with Golden State, including the last three. The Warriors have not won on the road against the Clippers since November 28, 2021. (nba.com, espn.com) The game is part of a play-in schedule that runs April 14 through April 17, with all six games carried exclusively on Prime Video, according to the league. Wednesday’s West 9-versus-10 game is listed for 10 p.m. Eastern time. (nba.com) So the regular season is over, but Golden State’s margin for error is gone. One win sends the Warriors to a second elimination game on Friday; one loss ends the season in Los Angeles. (nba.com)