Nobody gave the Golden State Warriors much of a chance. Down 13 with under ten minutes to play, on the road, in an elimination game — most teams would have quietly accepted their fate. With Stephen Curry on the floor, though, this team is not most teams.
The Warriors rallied from a 13-point deficit with 9:53 remaining, closing on a 16-5 run to advance in the SoFi Play-In Tournament with a 126-121 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers at the Intuit Dome. It was a performance that reminded everyone watching exactly why this franchise refuses to be buried, and exactly why Steph Curry — at 38 years old — remains one of the most terrifying players on the planet when October basketball is on the line.
Curry Puts the Team on His Back
The first half was rough. Curry managed just eight points on 2-of-9 shooting before halftime, while the Clippers held firm with Kawhi Leonard leading the charge. It looked like the kind of night where the story was already written before the fourth quarter even arrived.
Then everything changed.
Curry erupted for 16 points across a six-minute stretch in the third quarter, keeping the Warriors within striking distance while the Clippers threatened to pull away for good. It was vintage Curry — sudden, relentless, and completely demoralizing for a defense that had no answer.
He finished with 35 points, hitting seven three-pointers, and knocked down the go-ahead shot with just 50 seconds remaining — falling into the front row of Clippers fans as the ball found nothing but net. Just his fifth game back from a 27-game absence due to a knee injury, and he was already playing like a man with nothing to prove and everything to give.
Horford Shocks the Building
If Curry was the engine, Al Horford was the spark no one expected. The 39-year-old veteran had just two points off the bench before unleashing a stunning late-game burst, finishing with 14 total points that included four three-pointers in the fourth quarter alone.
It was only Horford’s third game back after missing a month with a strained right calf, which made his clutch performance all the more staggering. Three consecutive triples in the dying minutes of a must-win game — from a 39-year-old — is the kind of thing that does not show up in any scouting report. It just happens, and the building sits in stunned silence while it does.
Horford’s late-game hot streak was the backbone of a 27-13 closing run that overwhelmed the Clippers and effectively ended their season.
Porzingis and Santos Step Up
The contributions did not stop with the veterans. Kristaps Porzingis delivered 20 points, including six straight at a pivotal stretch in the fourth quarter, while Gui Santos added 20 points, six rebounds, and five assists — playing a decisive all-around role that set up several of Horford’s biggest baskets.
For a team that lost Jimmy Butler to injury before the season even found its footing, the depth on display Wednesday night was remarkable. These were not names anyone circled in October as Warriors cornerstones. And yet, when the moment demanded everything, they gave exactly that.
Draymond Curry Locks Down Leonard
Green tweaked his knee during the game but still managed to come up with the two most critical defensive plays of the night, sealing the victory for Golden State in the final seconds. It was a performance that perfectly encapsulated everything Green brings — not the points, not the headlines, but the plays that decide games when the margin for error disappears entirely.
Green locked down Leonard in the fourth quarter, holding one of the greatest scorers of his generation scoreless until the outcome was already decided. Leonard, who had been brilliant for stretches throughout the game, ran into a wall in the final minutes — and that wall had Draymond Green written all over it.
The collective fourth-quarter shooting was nothing short of extraordinary. Golden State shot 15-of-20 from the field and 8-of-11 from three in the final frame — a display of precision that felt almost unreasonable given the circumstances.
What Lies Ahead for the Warriors
Golden State will now travel to Phoenix to face the Suns, with the winner claiming the Western Conference’s final playoff spot and a first-round series against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
The road ahead is steep. The Thunder are formidable, and the Warriors arrive with a 37-45 regular season record, a depleted roster, and legs that have already been tested. But none of that seemed to matter on Wednesday night, when a team that had every reason to fold instead chose to ignite.
Curry is back. Green is locked in. And the Warriors, somehow, are still standing — one win away from the playoffs and refusing to let anyone write their ending for them.
