Stephen Curry scored 27 of his 35 points in the second half, Al Horford hit four 3-pointers during Golden State’s electrifying fourth-quarter comeback, and the Warriors advanced in the NBA’s play-in tournament with a 126-121 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night.
Curry’s seventh 3-pointer broke a tie with 50.4 seconds to play for the 10th-seeded Warriors, who erased a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Golden State finished on a 16-6 run and held Kawhi Leonard scoreless in the fourth until the final 16 seconds.
After this time-defying rally, Curry, Draymond Green and the postseason-tested Warriors are one game from another playoff berth despite going 37-45 in the regular season and losing Jimmy Butler for the season in January.
The Warriors will travel to face Phoenix on Friday, with the winner moving on to face defending champion Oklahoma City in the first round.
Leonard scored 21 points for the Clippers, who missed the playoffs for the first time since 2022 and only the third time during their streak of 15 consecutive winning seasons. Bennedict Mathurin led Los Angeles with 23 points and Darius Garland had 21 points and eight assists while battling foul trouble.
The Clippers led 98-85 with 9:53 to play, but the 38-year-old Curry led Golden State’s furious comeback alongside Kristaps Porzingis, who scored 20 points, and the 39-year-old Horford.
Golden State got a classic second-half barrage from Curry, who returned only five games ago from a 27-game absence with a knee injury. He scored 16 points in a six-minute span of the third quarter to keep the Warriors in it while the Clippers nearly pulled away.
After Horford hit three 3-pointers down the stretch in the fourth quarter, Gui Santos’ layup with 2:45 to play trimmed the Clips’ lead to 115-114. Horford’s fourth 3-pointer put the Warriors up 117-115 with 2:12 left.
Maxey leads Sixers past Magic
Tyrese Maxey scored 31 points, V.J. Edgecombe added 19 points and 11 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers weathered the absence of Joel Embiid to beat the Orlando Magic 109-97 and secure the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The Sixers moved on to a first-round series that begins Sunday at Boston.
Desmond Bane and the Magic aren’t done yet. They will host Charlotte on Friday night, with the winner earning the No. 8 seed in the East and a first-round matchup with Detroit.
Embiid had an emergency appendectomy last week in Houston. While the 76ers haven’t given a timetable for his return, the two-time scoring champion returned to the team on Wednesday, surprising teammates in the locker room and watching the game from the bench.
Maxey, named an Eastern Conference All-Star starter for the first time in his career, scored seven straight points late in the fourth to give the Sixers some breathing room against a Magic team that wasted a chance to play this game at home with a late collapse in a loss to the Celtics in the season finale.
Bane, who averaged 20.1 points and played all 82 games, carried Orlando’s offense with 34 points. He hit a three-pointer that moved Orlando within two and Anthony Black hit a triple that pulled the Magic to 87-86.
How and when to watch the NBA playoffs on Sky Sports
The 2026 NBA playoffs begins on Sky Sports this Sunday, April 19, with four live games on Sky Sports Action from 6pm onwards.
All timings listed in British Summer Time:
6pm – East No 7 seed @ Boston Celtics (2)
8.30pm – West No 8 seed @ Oklahoma City Thunder (1)
11pm – East No 8 seed @ Detroit Pistons (1)
2am – Portland Trail Blazers (7) @ San Antonio Spurs (2)
Sky Sports will also be showing all of the Western Conference Finals live from May 20.
Western Conference first-round playoffs:
*First teams denotes home court advantage
Oklahoma City Thunder (1) vs 8th seed (TBC)
San Antonio Spurs (2) vs Portland Trail Blazers (7)
Denver Nuggets (3) vs Minnesota Timberwolves (6)
Los Angeles Lakers (4) vs Houston Rockets (5)
Play-in tournament:
1. Phoenix Suns (7) 110-114 Portland Trail Blazers (8)
2. Los Angeles Clippers (9) vs Golden State Warriors (10)
3. Phoenix Suns vs Winner Game 2
Eastern Conference first-round playoffs:
Detroit Pistons (1) vs 8th seed (TBC)
Boston Celtics (2) vs 7th seed (TBC)
New York Knicks (3) vs Atlanta Hawks (6)
Cleveland Cavaliers (4) vs Toronto Raptors (5)
Play-in tournament:
1. Philadelphia 76ers (7) vs Orlando Magic (8)
2. Charlotte Hornets (9) 127-126 Miami Heat (10)
3. Loser Game 1 vs Charlotte Hornets
Watch the 2026 NBA Playoffs live on Sky Sports. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
