Warriors rallied past Clippers
The Warriors erased a 13‑point fourth‑quarter deficit to beat the Clippers 126–121 in the play‑in, with Stephen Curry leading the late comeback ( ). Golden State’s win advances them to a Friday matchup with the Phoenix Suns for the Western Conference’s No. 8 seed ( ).
Golden State erased a 13-point fourth-quarter hole and beat the Los Angeles Clippers 126-121 on Wednesday night to stay alive in the Western Conference play-in. (espn.com) Stephen Curry scored 35 points, including 27 after halftime, and his seventh three-pointer broke a tie with 50.4 seconds left. Golden State closed on a 16-6 run at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. (espn.com) Al Horford hit four three-pointers in the fourth quarter, and the Warriors got 20 points from Kristaps Porzingis. The Clippers led 98-85 with 9:53 remaining before Golden State flipped the game. (espn.com) The National Basketball Association play-in gives the teams seeded seventh through 10th a last path into the playoffs. This game matched the West’s ninth-place Clippers against the 10th-place Warriors, so the loser was eliminated immediately. (espn.com) Golden State now travels to Phoenix for the final West play-in game on Friday, April 17, with the No. 8 playoff seed on the line. The winner will open the first round against defending champion Oklahoma City. (espn.com; azcentral.com) The comeback came from a team that finished 37-45 and lost Jimmy Butler for the season in January. Curry had returned only five games earlier from a 27-game absence caused by a knee injury. (espn.com; nbcsports.com) Los Angeles finished 42-40 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2022. The Clippers had reached 15 straight winning seasons, the longest active streak in the National Basketball Association, but late-season losses to Portland dropped them to No. 9 and forced this elimination game. (espn.com) Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points, Bennedict Mathurin led Los Angeles with 23, and Darius Garland added 21 points with eight assists. Leonard was scoreless in the fourth quarter until the final 16 seconds as Draymond Green anchored Golden State’s late defense. (espn.com; nbcsports.com) The Warriors were down 61-53 at halftime after Curry scored eight points on 2-for-9 shooting. He answered with 16 points in a six-minute burst in the third quarter, then finished the rally in the final minute. (espn.com) Friday’s game in Phoenix is now the only thing between Golden State and the playoffs. A team that looked finished with 9:53 left gets one more night. (azcentral.com; espn.com)
