Veteran forward Al Horford delivered when it mattered most, draining four three-pointers during the final 5:37 to propel the Golden State Warriors past the Los Angeles Clippers 126-121 in Wednesday night’s Western Conference play-in tournament game in Inglewood, California.
The victory sends the Warriors into a winner-take-all showdown against Phoenix on Friday, with the eighth playoff seed and a first-round matchup against Oklahoma City on the line. For the Clippers, the defeat marks the end of their season.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr reflected on the significance of the win. “With all the wins we’ve ever had here,” Kerr explained, “a lot of them with a lot more at stake – this one is right up there because of where we are, and our age and the decline of our performance this year with the injuries. It was just a beautiful display of competitive will.”
Horford’s dramatic shooting surge fueled a decisive 27-13 Warriors rally to close the game. Stephen Curry, who scored 35 points on the night, sealed the victory with a long-range three-pointer with 50.4 seconds left on the clock, giving Golden State a 120-117 advantage they wouldn’t surrender. Curry made seven of 12 attempts from beyond the arc as the Warriors connected on 19 of 41 three-point shots for 46.3 percent.
After missing time with a knee injury, Curry had been playing limited minutes during the regular season’s final games. He logged nearly 36 minutes in Wednesday’s crucial contest.
“This is why Steph came back,” Kerr noted. “Everybody out there who thought Steph should have taken the rest of the year off, this is what he does. This is who he is. If he can compete, he’s going to compete.”
While Curry provided stellar production, it was the 39-year-old Horford who emerged as the unlikely hero. The veteran reserve had managed only two points before his game-changing barrage, finishing with 14 points total. His crucial baskets came courtesy of assists from Gui Santos and Curry.
Santos delivered an outstanding all-around performance with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists. Kristaps Porzingis also contributed 20 points for Golden State, including six consecutive points during a key fourth-quarter stretch.
Porzingis sparked the Warriors’ comeback by converting an and-one play, then immediately following with a three-pointer that cut a nine-point Clippers advantage to three with 8:17 remaining.
Los Angeles responded through Darius Garland, who made his own and-one before setting up Brook Lopez for an inside score. Garland capped his strong sequence with a three-pointer that restored the Clippers’ nine-point cushion with 6:37 left.
That basket proved to be Los Angeles’ final moment of control in a game they had dominated for most of the evening.
Garland and Kawhi Leonard each tallied 21 points as the Clippers built leads as large as 13 points. However, Los Angeles couldn’t maintain their advantage in the second half, especially as Leonard struggled offensively against intense defensive pressure from Draymond Green.
“We had the game in our hands,” said Clippers coach Tyronn Lue. “Some silly plays, not doing the right thing execution-wise. To be up 13 [points] with 10 minutes to go in the game, we’ve got to finish. So I’m disappointed.”
Leonard committed two fourth-quarter turnovers and managed his only points of the final period on a dunk in the closing seconds after Golden State had secured the victory. The star forward had scored 14 of his points in the first half, highlighted by a coast-to-coast slam just before halftime.
Bennedict Mathurin paced Los Angeles with 23 points coming off the bench.
