Clippers host Warriors

The Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors meet Wednesday night at Intuit Dome with one season ending before midnight. (nba.com) The game is the Western Conference No. 9 versus No. 10 play-in matchup, scheduled for 10 p.m. Eastern time in Inglewood, California, with Prime Video carrying the national broadcast. (nba.com) The stakes are simple: the loser is eliminated, and the winner advances to a second play-in game on Friday, April 17, against the loser of Phoenix Suns versus Portland Trail Blazers for the No. 8 playoff seed. (nba.com, nba.com) Los Angeles finished the regular season 42-40 and landed ninth in the West, while Golden State finished 37-45 and took the 10th spot. Teams seeded seventh through 10th go to the play-in tournament instead of getting an automatic playoff berth. (espn.com, nba.com) The Clippers got here after a late slide that included two losses to the Trail Blazers, one of them a 116-97 defeat on April 10 that helped lock Los Angeles into the 9-10 bracket. (nba.com) Golden State had been fixed in 10th place entering the final weekend, and the Warriors closed the regular season with a 115-110 loss to the Clippers on Sunday, April 12. (nba.com, nba.com) The season series gives Los Angeles an edge. The Clippers won three of the four meetings: 103-102 on January 5, 114-101 on March 2, and 115-110 on April 12, while Golden State won 98-79 on October 28. (nba.com) Kawhi Leonard enters the game as the Clippers’ top scorer at 27.9 points per game, and he appeared in 65 regular-season games after sitting out Sunday to rest for the play-in. Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said transition defense and matching Golden State’s pace would be central Wednesday. (nba.com, espn.com) Warriors coach Steve Kerr pointed to Leonard’s pedigree before the rematch, saying he is “always” a great player, while Lue said Golden State “can embarrass you” if opponents do not keep up with its tempo. (nba.com) By the end of Wednesday night, one California team will still be two wins from the playoffs and the other will be headed into the offseason. (nba.com, nba.com)