Shooter’s delight as Los Angeles Clippers face Golden State Warriors in NBA play-in
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Oklahoma City Thunder centre Chet Holmgren defending a shot by forward Kawhi Leonard during the Los Angeles Clippers' 128-110 NBA regular season loss at Intuit Dome on April 8.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LOS ANGELES – California rivals meet on April 15 (April 16 morning, Singapore time) in a do-or-die start to the National Basketball Association (NBA) Western Conference play-in, as the No. 9 seeds Los Angeles Clippers welcome the 10th-seeded Golden State Warriors to Inglewood.
Los Angeles finished 42-40 in the regular season and fell into the 9/10 matchup by virtue of dropping a pair of late-season contests to the Portland Trail Blazers.
That loss at Portland effectively locked the Clippers into the No. 9 seed and they will need two play-in victories to qualify for the play-off field.
Golden State finished the regular season at 37-45 and had been firmly established as the West’s No. 10 team.
Drawing Los Angeles leaves the Warriors preparing for Kawhi Leonard, the six-time All-NBA forward.
The 34-year-old heads into the play-in round averaging career bests in scoring at 27.9 points per game and three-pointers made per contest at 2.6.
“He’s always been a great player. I don’t know how much he’s changed since we saw him in the Finals,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said, referencing Leonard’s Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) performance for the Toronto Raptors against the Warriors in 2019.
Leonard, who has dealt with knee issues throughout his seven years with the Clippers, appeared in 65 regular-season games, his second-most with the team.
His presence helped them battle back from a 6-21 start to the season and go 36-19 since Dec 20.
During that stretch, they had three wins over Golden State, including a 115-110 victory on April 12 to close the regular season.
Leonard sat out that game while spark plug Bennedict Mathurin snapped out of a recent cold spell to score 20 points off the bench.
Mathurin also had nine rebounds and eight assists in a significant bounce-back from his scoreless outing at Portland.
“Just being in attack mode,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said of expectations for Mathurin going into the play-in game.
“When we get stops, we need him to go a little bit faster, because he’s one of the best guys in transition.”
Transition opportunities and pace of play figure to be keys for the matchup, Lue said.
The coach noted that the Warriors “can embarrass you” if teams fail to match their tempo.
Golden State scored 114.6 points per game in an injury-plagued campaign, but allowed 115.2 points per game and committed 15.7 turnovers, their second most since 2007-08.
However, the Warriors ranked second in the NBA by making 1,286 three-pointers during the regular season. That came even with two-time MVP Stephen Curry sidelined for 39 games. He recently returned from a knee injury and moves forward on a minutes restriction.
“He’s had four games now where he’s stretched almost up to 30,” Kerr said. “With the two days off, he should be able to get at least that (against the Clippers).”
Curry made 190 three-pointers this campaign, which was a team-high despite his limited availability.
Meanwhile on April 14, LaMelo Ball hit a go-ahead layup with 4.7 seconds left and Miles Bridges blocked Davion Mitchell’s shot at the buzzer as the Charlotte Hornets beat the visiting Miami Heat 127-126 in overtime to advance in the Eastern play-in tournament.
Over in the West, a sensational 41-point display from Israeli forward Deni Avdija inspired the Portland Trail Blazers to a 114-110 upset of the seventh-seeded Phoenix Suns. REUTERS, AFP
