Golden State Warriors rally to eliminate Los Angeles Clippers from NBA play-in
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors reacting during the 126-121 NBA play-in win over the Los Angeles Clippers at Intuit Dome on April 15.
PHOTO: AFP
LOS ANGELES – Golden State star Stephen Curry scored the go-ahead three-pointer with 50 seconds left, as the Warriors rallied to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 126-121 and stay alive in the National Basketball Association (NBA) play-in on April 15.
Curry, a four-time NBA champion who missed 27 games from February to early April with a nagging knee injury, shook off a slow first half to finish with 35 points.
He connected on seven of 12 three-point attempts to help the visiting Warriors, who trailed most of the way, to battle back from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit.
His last three-pointer put the Warriors up 120-117 and they held on to knock Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers out of the post-season.
The Warriors, who finished the regular season 10th in the Western Conference, will have to win one more game to reach the play-offs proper when they face the Phoenix Suns on April 17.
The winners of that game will secure the Western Conference eighth seed and a first-round series against the top-seeded defending champions Oklahoma City Thunder.
Curry said the key in Phoenix will once again be “resiliency”.
“These win-or-go home scenarios, we think we know the team but you’ve got to be able to withstand the runs and stay in it emotionally.
“It was back and forth the whole game and then we got over the hump the last three minutes.”
Gui Santos and Kristaps Porzingis scored 20 points apiece for the Warriors and Al Horford made four three-pointers in the fourth quarter.
Bennedict Mathurin scored 23 points to lead the Clippers. Leonard and Darius Garland scored 21 points each, but Leonard was held to just two points in the final period.
In Philadelphia, the 76ers, fuelled by 31 points from Tyrese Maxey, held off the Orlando Magic 109-97 to punch their play-offs ticket, booking a first-round meeting with the Boston Celtics.
Six Philadelphia players scored in double figures as the Sixers overcame the absence of star big man Joel Embiid – who made a surprise appearance watching from the bench as he recovers from an appendectomy.
“Man, we played hard as hell,” Maxey said. “Everybody who stepped on the floor contributed tonight.
“I’m just so happy because, like, a lot of these guys ain’t been to the play-offs before. I told them at the beginning of the year: I don’t care what it takes, we’re going to the play-offs.”
Rookie VJ Edgecombe added 19 points and 11 rebounds and Andre Drummond came off the bench to score 14 points with 10 rebounds, three steals and three blocks.
The 76ers’ play-in victory secured the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference and a first-round series against the second-seeded Celtics starting on April 20.
The Magic, led by 34 points from Desmond Bane, will have a last chance to grab the East eighth seed on April 17 when they host the Charlotte Hornets, who knocked out the Miami Heat in a 127-126 overtime thriller on April 14.
The reward for the winners will be a first-round series against East top seeds the Detroit Pistons.
Philadelphia led most of the night but in a tight, sometimes contentious battle, the Magic cut an 11-point deficit midway through the third quarter to one early in the fourth.
Orlando trailed by just four with four minutes remaining, but the Sixers pulled away with a late spurt capped by Drummond’s three-pointer with 41 seconds left.
Over in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), A’ja Wilson has signed a record-breaking new contract with the Las Vegas Aces worth nearly US$5 million (S$6.4 million) over three years, the US media reported on April 15.
The three-time WNBA champion and four-time Most Valuable Player’s new deal would be the most lucrative in the rapidly growing league’s history.
Meanwhile, the WNBA Draft drew its second-highest viewership total ever on April 13.
According to ESPN, 1.5 million watched the event, a 20 per cent increase from the 2025 Draft. The audience reached a peak of 1.79 million tuning in.
The record viewership of 2.45 million was established in 2024, when college stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese went first and seventh overall respectively. AFP, REUTERS
