Published April 16, 2026
Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors kept their NBA playoff hopes alive by eliminating the Los Angeles Clippers from the play-in. Al Horford made four 3-pointers in the final 5:37 of a Western Conference play-in game and the 10th-ranked Golden State Warriors beat the 9th-ranked Los Angeles Clippers 126-121 on Wednesday in Inglewood, California.
Golden State advances to a sudden-death game against the Suns on Friday in Phoenix to determine the No. 8 seed in the West and a first-round playoff opponent for the Oklahoma City Thunder. This loss ends the Clippers’ season.
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Horford’s late-game streak was part of Golden State’s 27-13 win. Stephen Curry sank a deep 3-pointer with 50.4 seconds left to punctuate a 35-point night and give the Warriors a 120-117 lead for relegation. Curry made seven of 12 attempts from beyond the arc, putting the Warriors on pace for 19-of-41 (46.3 percent) from long range.
Despite Curry’s contributions, it was Horford who stole the show.
The 39-year-old veteran started on the bench with just a two-point lead until the late onslaught. He finished with 14 points, with two assists from Guy Santos sandwiched in by two assists from Curry for the key goal.
Santos played an important all-around role for the Warriors, recording 20 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Golden State also got 20 points from Kristaps Porzingis, including six straight points in a stretch in the fourth quarter.
Porzingis followed with a one-chance 3-pointer, cutting the Clippers’ nine-point lead to three with 8:17 remaining.
Los Angeles answered when Darius Garland converted an and-one of his own, and Garland gave Brook Lopez an interior bucket. Garland capped off a big stretch with a 3-pointer that pushed Los Angeles’ lead back to nine points with 6:37 left.
That was the final point when the Clippers appeared to take control after leading for much of the game.
Garland and Kawhi Leonard each scored 21 points, helping Los Angeles build a 13-point advantage. However, the Clippers were unable to shake the Warriors in the second half, especially as Leonard went cold on offense.
Leonard committed two turnovers in the fourth quarter and scored his only points of the period on a dunk in the final seconds after Golden State essentially clinched the victory. Leonard scored 14 points in the first half, including a coast-to-coast slam just before halftime.
Benedict Mathurin led Los Angeles with 23 points off the bench.
Maxey sends 76ers to playoffs
Earlier, Tyrese Maxey scored 11 of his team-high 31 points in the fourth quarter for the host Philadelphia 76ers, who defeated the Orlando Magic 109-97 in a play-in game and advanced to the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The 76ers, who finished seventh in the Eastern Conference with a record of 45 wins and 37 losses, are the seventh seed and will face the second seed Boston Celtics in a best-of-seven series starting Sunday.
The Magic, who were also 45-37 but lost in the home court tiebreaker to the 76ers with Philadelphia 2-1 in the season series, will face the No. 9 Charlotte Hornets on Friday in a play-in game to determine the No. 8 seed. The Hornets defeated the No. 10 Miami Heat 127-126 in overtime on Tuesday.
Starter VJ Edgecombe (19 points, 11 rebounds) and reserve Andre Drummond (14 points, 10 rebounds) each achieved a double-double for the 76ers, who are heading to the playoffs for the eighth time in nine years.
Philadelphia’s Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 19 points and Paul George added 16 points.
Desmond Bane scored 34 points for the Magic, who are aiming for their third consecutive playoff appearance. Paolo Banchero had 18 points and Anthony Black had 13 points off the bench. Franz Wagner added 12 points.
Neither team led by more than six points in the first half, with the 76ers leading 59-55. Bane and Banchero combined for the first five points of the third quarter, then Edgecomb hit a 3-pointer to give Philadelphia a commanding 62-60 lead, 14-2, with 10:54 remaining. The Magic ended the quarter with a 12-6 surge to close within 79-74.
Bane’s 3-pointer with 9:47 left gave the Magic an 83-81 lead, but George then missed a 3-pointer. But Bane also missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer with 9:16 remaining, and Maxey responded with a layup to extend the 76ers’ lead to 85-81.
Orlando got within one or two points twice more, but Edgecomb and Maxey answered with jumpers. Maxey scored seven unanswered points to give the 76ers a 94-86 lead with 6:25 left. The host team led by at least four the rest of the way.
