Al Horford’s late three-pointers lead the Warriors to a play-in win against the Clippers
On Wednesday, April 16, Al Horford hit four 3-pointers in the final 5:37 of a Western Conference play-in game, propelling the 10th-place Golden State Warriors to a 126-121 victory against the ninth-place Los Angeles Clippers in Inglewood, California.
Golden State will face the Suns in a sudden-death battle in Phoenix on Friday, determining the West’s No. 8 seed and the first-round playoff opponent for the Oklahoma City Thunder. The loss brings the Clippers’ season to an end.
Horford’s late-game hot streak contributed to Golden State’s 27-13 victory. Stephen Curry capped a 35-point night with a deep 3-pointer with 50.4 seconds left, putting the Warriors up for good, 120-117. Curry’s seven makes on 12 attempts from beyond the arc led the Warriors to a 19-of-41 long-range bombardment (46.3%).
Regardless of Curry’s contributions, Horford stole the show.
The 39-year-old veteran had only two points off the bench before his late surge. He finished with 14 points, thanks to two assists from Gui Santos followed by two assists by Curry.
Santos played an important all-around role for the Warriors, ending with 20 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Kristaps Porzingis added 20 points for Golden State, including six consecutive in the fourth quarter.
Porzingis converted a 3-pointer to cut the Clippers’ advantage from nine to three with 8:17 remaining.
Los Angeles responded when Darius Garland converted his own and-one, and Garland fed Brook Lopez for an interior bucket. Garland finished his impressive stretch with a 3-pointer that extended Los Angeles’ advantage back to nine with 6:37 left.
The Clippers lost control of the game after leading for the majority of it until that moment.
Garland and Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points each, allowing Los Angeles to lead by much to 13 points. However, the Clippers were unable to shake the Warriors in the second half, especially as Leonard went cold on offense.
Leonard had two errors in the fourth quarter and scored his only points on a dunk in the dying seconds, after Golden State had already secured the win. Leonard scored 14 points in the first half, including a coast-to-coast slam right before halftime.
Bennedict Mathurin led Los Angeles with 23 points off the bench.