Stephen Curry (35 points and 7 three-pointers) was the executioner in the do-or-die play-in clash between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors, in which the Bay Area team won 121-126 to keep their hopes alive for the last playoff spot.
The Warriors will face the Suns in Phoenix on Friday. The winner will face the feared Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs. The Clippers, on the other hand, say goodbye to a season that has been a rollercoaster ride.
With 9:53 remaining, the Clippers were 98-85 ahead, with a maximum difference of +13. Curry, who had scored 16 points in the third quarter but was being regulated by Steve Kerr, was on the bench.
The Warriors were letting the game slip away and Kerr had no choice but to put him in. Within six seconds, Curry had already hit a three-pointer.
It was an extraordinary quarter for the Warriors, in which they scored 43 points, 24 of them from the perimeter, with 8 of 11 three-pointers.
In fact, Kerr’s team finished the game with 19 three-pointers, which helped them to compensate for the 35 points they conceded with their 20 turnovers.
Dominican Al Horford, who hit four of Golden State’s three-pointers in the final quarter in a span of just over three minutes, put the Warriors ahead 115-117 with 2:12 remaining.
The game went into the final minute tied at 117. Curry got the ball and nailed another three-pointer for 117-120, a lead that would prove decisive after Draymond Green stole the next two balls from Kawhi Leonard. Just like old times.
Curry finished with 35 points, while Gui Santos and Kristaps Porzingis added 20 each and Al Horford 14.
For the Clippers, Bennedict Mathurin, who was reminiscent of the Indiana Pacers player last season, scored 23 points with 5-of-6 shooting from three-point range. Darius Garland and Leonard finished with 21 each and Lopez with 17.
The elimination at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood was a real blow for the Clippers, who, after a disastrous start to the season, climbed the standings and also overcame the departures of James Harden to Cleveland and Ivica Zubac to Indiana.
In the end, the Bay Area team, in a very irregular season marked by injuries and who came in with seven losses in the last eight games, made their playoff experience count to win another life.
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