Warriors knock out Clippers
Stephen Curry led Golden State to a comeback that eliminated the Clippers from Wednesday’s play‑in, ending L.A.’s season and advancing the Warriors into the next phase of the postseason ( ). League and fan channels posted rapid “first highlights” clips on YouTube minutes after the game, giving full context for the late possessions that swung the result (youtube.com).
Golden State erased a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit Wednesday night, beat the Los Angeles Clippers 126-121 in Inglewood, and kept its season alive. (nba.com) Stephen Curry scored 35 points, including 27 in the second half, and his seventh three-pointer broke a 121-121 tie with 50.4 seconds left. Al Horford added four made threes in the comeback, and Draymond Green defended Kawhi Leonard on the late possessions that closed the game. (apnews.com) The Clippers led 98-85 with 9:53 remaining before Golden State finished on a 16-6 run. ESPN’s recap said Leonard was held scoreless in the fourth quarter until the final 16 seconds. (espn.com) This was the Western Conference 9-versus-10 play-in game, so the loss ended Los Angeles’ season immediately. The win moved the 10th-seeded Warriors into Friday’s final play-in game for the conference’s last playoff berth. (sports.yahoo.com) The format is simple: teams that finish seventh through 10th in each conference play for the last two playoff spots. In the West bracket posted by the league, Golden State now faces the loser of the Phoenix Suns-Portland Trail Blazers 7-versus-8 game for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) The result extended a season that looked finished more than once. ESPN noted Golden State went 37-45 in the regular season and was still playing without Jimmy Butler, who was lost for the year in January, while Curry had returned only five games earlier from a 27-game absence with a knee injury. (espn.com) For the Clippers, the ending was sharper because they were at home and entered as the No. 9 seed after a 42-40 regular season. They won the first quarter 31-22 and still led by nine entering the fourth before Golden State scored 43 points in the final period. (espn.com) The late sequence spread fast because the full swing fit into a few possessions: Curry’s go-ahead three, Green’s stop on Leonard, and the final free throws. League and fan channels posted highlight packages within minutes of the buzzer, turning the finish into the night’s instant replay loop. (youtube.com) Now the Warriors are one win from the Western Conference playoffs, and the Clippers are done. The comeback turned a 10th-place team’s season into at least one more game. (nba.com)
