Curry sparks Warriors comeback over Clippers, advance in play-in

Stephen Curry dragged the Golden State Warriors through a night that looked ready to end their season, scoring 35 points and 27 after halftime in a 126-121 play-in win over the Los Angeles Clippers at Intuit Dome. Golden State erased a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit and finished on a 16-5 run, a burst that kept the No. 10 seed alive and exposed how heavily this team still leans on one transcendent scorer.

The final turnaround had the shape of a rescue act rather than a steady team statement. Curry’s seventh 3-pointer broke a tie with 50.4 seconds left, and Al Horford supplied the kind of veteran lift the Warriors have increasingly needed, hitting four 3-pointers over the final 5:37. Draymond Green’s presence helped steady the group as Golden State outlasted a Clippers team that had beaten it three times in the regular season and entered the night as the No. 9 seed.

That history made the rally sharper and the larger question more difficult to ignore. The Warriors had lost seven of their previous eight games before the play-in, a skid that had left little evidence they could manufacture a postseason run without Curry delivering something extraordinary. Instead, Curry delivered exactly that, turning a game that threatened to shut down Golden State’s season into another reminder that the franchise’s ceiling still rises and falls with his shot-making.

The victory sends Golden State to face the No. 7 Phoenix Suns on Friday, April 17, with the winner moving on to meet the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round. For one night, the Warriors looked like the old version of themselves, the one that could survive pressure because Curry and the veteran core could still find one more gear. But the path ahead is unforgiving, and this comeback also served as a reality check: Golden State can still summon brilliance, yet it remains unclear whether it can sustain it long enough to be more than a team surviving on one superstar’s brilliance.