Warriors dump Clippers
Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors beat the Clippers to eliminate Los Angeles from the postseason and claim the West’s No. 7 seed. (sports.yahoo.com) (cbssports.com)
Golden State erased a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit Wednesday night, beat the Los Angeles Clippers 126-121 and moved within one win of the Western Conference playoffs. (apnews.com) Stephen Curry scored 35 points, including 27 in the second half, and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 50.4 seconds left in Inglewood, California. The Warriors outscored the Clippers 43-32 in the fourth quarter. (espn.com) Al Horford added four 3-pointers in the comeback, and the Clippers led 98-85 with 9:53 remaining before Golden State closed on a 16-6 run. Kawhi Leonard was held scoreless in the fourth quarter until the final 16 seconds, according to the Associated Press game recap carried by ESPN. (apnews.com) (espn.com) The game was the Western Conference 9-versus-10 play-in matchup, which means the loser’s season ends immediately and the winner advances to one more elimination game. NBA.com’s bracket lists Golden State as the No. 10 seed at 37-45 and the Clippers as the No. 9 seed at 42-40 entering Wednesday. (nba.com) That setup turned a regular-season rematch into a postseason cutoff. The Clippers had beaten Golden State on Sunday, April 12, in the teams’ final regular-season meeting, then got another home game three days later with their season on the line. (nba.com) (espn.com) The win keeps Golden State alive for the West’s last playoff berth. NBA.com’s bracket shows the Warriors advancing to face the loser of the 7-versus-8 play-in game for the No. 8 seed, with the first round of the playoffs scheduled to begin April 18. (nba.com) For the Clippers, the loss ended a 42-win season in one night. ESPN’s game page listed Bennedict Mathurin as Los Angeles’ leading scorer with 23 points, while John Collins had a team-high nine rebounds and Kris Dunn finished with 10 assists. (espn.com) Golden State’s rally fit the shape of its season: a sub-.500 team still leaning on Curry deep into April. The Associated Press reported he had returned only five games earlier from a 27-game absence with a knee injury. (apnews.com) By the final minute, the game belonged to Curry again. His seventh 3-pointer broke the tie, and Golden State walked out of Intuit Dome still playing. (espn.com)
