Stephen Curry, Al Horford lead Warriors past Clippers 126-121 with a huge play-in comeback

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — 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.

The Clippers rallied from a chaotic 6-21 start to finish 42-40 in this once-woebegone franchise's 15th consecutive winning season — the NBA's longest active streak. But two late-season losses to Portland dropped Los Angeles to the No. 9 seed, requiring the Clips to get two play-in victories instead of one to make the playoffs.

After managing just eight points on 2-for-9 shooting in the first half, Curry scored 16 points and hit three 3-pointers in six electrifying minutes of the third quarter.

Referee Ben Taylor left shortly after halftime with an injury. He was replaced by alternate referee Sean Corbin.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA