Stephen Curry's 35 Points Rally Warriors Past Clippers 126-121 in Dramatic Play-In Comeback

Stephen Curry delivered another vintage playoff performance, scoring 27 of his 35 points in the second half to rally the Golden State Warriors to a stunning 126-121 comeback victory over the Los Angeles Clippers at Intuit Dome on Wednesday night. The 10th-seeded Warriors erased a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit and now travel to Phoenix on Friday for a shot at securing a playoff berth against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

Curry, who had missed 27 games earlier this season with a knee injury and only returned five games ago, was relentless in the second half. After managing just eight points on 2-for-9 shooting in the first half, he exploded for 16 points in a six-minute span of the third quarter alone. His seventh 3-pointer of the night broke a tie with 50.4 seconds remaining, giving Golden State a 120-117 lead they would not relinquish. Watch the moment that sealed it: https://youtube.com/watch?v=0CFUYLl0bWg

Al Horford, the 39-year-old veteran, was equally critical to the comeback. He hit four 3-pointers during a sensational fourth-quarter stretch, including back-to-back triples that turned a 115-114 deficit into a 120-115 Warriors lead with 2:12 to play. Horford finished with four 3-pointers and made clutch plays on both ends during the final minutes. Kristaps Porzingis added 20 points for Golden State, providing a crucial secondary scoring option alongside Curry.

The Clippers, despite their heroics this season following a franchise-worst 6-21 start, saw their campaign end in heartbreaking fashion. They finished 42-40 in a remarkable turnaround that marked their 15th consecutive winning season — the NBA’s longest active streak — but two late-season losses to Portland dropped them to the No. 9 seed, requiring two play-in victories just to reach the playoffs. Leonard finished with 21 points but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter until the final 16 seconds, while Bennedict Mathurin led Los Angeles with 23 points and Darius Garland added 21 points and eight assists despite battling foul trouble.

The Warriors’ victory sets up a de facto playoff game against Phoenix on Friday. The winner moves on to face the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round — a matchup few would have predicted when Golden State sat at 6-21 back in December. Golden State lost Jimmy Butler for the season in January, casting serious doubt on their playoff hopes, yet here they are one win away from a playoff berth with their core trio of Curry, Draymond Green, and now Horford and Porzingis playing their best basketball of the season.

For Clippers fans, this offseason will bring difficult questions about the future, but LA’s resilience in climbing from 6-21 to 42-40 deserves genuine credit. The Warriors, meanwhile, continue to prove that with Curry on the court, anything remains possible.