Clippers season comes to an end with play-in loss

It was do or die Wednesday evening at Intuit Dome, and the Clippers didn’t do enough to keep their season alive, blowing a 13-point lead early in the fourth quarter and shedding to the Golden State Warriors, 126-121.

Having rebounded from a franchise-worst 6-21 start to earn the next-to-last berth in the NBA play-in event, coach Tyronn Lue’s resilient bunch couldn’t prolong its historic comeback on its home flooring.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 35 factors, Kristaps Porzingis and and Gui Santos each had 20, and Brandin Podziemski added 17. The Warriors had been 19 for 41 from three-point vary, with Al Horford hitting 4 in the fourth quarter.

Bennedict Mathurin scored 23 factors off the bench, while Kawhi Leonard and Darius Garland each added 21 factors for the Clippers, who received three of the groups’ 4 regular-season conferences, including a 115-110 victory in the same area 4 days earlier. Wednesday evening, however, Leonard was held scoreless in the fourth quarter until the ultimate seconds as the Warriors rallied.

“It happens, we’ve won games like that before, we’ve lost games like that before,” Leonard said. “They played great defense, they won the game. They deserve it. They scored 43 points in the fourth quarter.”

Garland, a level guard acquired from the Cleveland Cavaliers at the commerce deadline in exchange for James Harden, contributed mightily to the crew’s late-season surge but picked up his fifth foul with 2:51 left in the third quarter and fouled out with 50 seconds left in the fourth.

“It came down to contested threes and not a lot of good possessions for us… in the end No.30 did what 30 does,” he said, referring to Curry. “It was fun for the time I’ve been here. To be in the play-in game is a credit to this group and the coaching staff. This isn’t the way we wanted to end the season, but this group is amazing and everybody wants to win. The championship pedigree they have over there shined through.”

The Clippers obtained off to a scorching start, scoring 12 straight factors to take a 10-point lead 3:19 into the sport, but Golden State used a 12-2 run of its own to tie it and took a 17-16 lead on Curry’s first three-pointer with 5:07 left in the first. A 15-5 run put the Clippers back up 31-22 at the end of the quarter.

Porzingis’ three-pointer from the top of the key put the Warriors in entrance early in the second quarter, but the Clippers closed the first half with a flourish. The Warriors’ Draymond Green obtained assessed a technical foul, and Leonard made the following free throw to give his crew a 10-point lead with 3:24 left; the Clippers headed to the locker room forward 61-53.

Back-to-back buckets by Derrick Jones Jr. pushed the Clippers’ lead back to 10 factors with 7:48 left in the third quarter, but again the proud Warriors responded with eight straight factors by Curry, including a uncommon four-point play, to pull within 4. The Clippers pushed the lead back to 11 before Golden State used a 5-0 run to creep within 89-83 heading to the fourth quarter.

Porzingis’ three-pointer whittled the Warriors’ deficit down to three with 8:16 left, but Garland’s three-pointer pushed the margin back to 9 with 6:36 left. Horford’s ultimate three gave the Warriors a 117-115 lead with 2:12 left. Brook Lopez hit a pair of free throws to tie it with 1:51 left, but Curry, as he has performed so many occasions in his profession, sank a three-pointer to put his crew up 120-117 with 50 seconds remaining. Green, guarding Leonard, then tipped away the Clippers’ inbounds cross out of a timeout, and Podziemski drove for a three-point play as the guests hung on.

“We turned the ball over 18 times for 23 points and we can’t do that,” Lue said. “Horford made some big shots to get them back in the game. We had the game in our hands and made silly plays. To be up 13 with 10 minutes left… we have to finish that game.”

Kawhi Leonard walks off the court after the Clippers’ season-ending loss. He was held scoreless in the fourth until the ultimate seconds.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The Clippers had received 9 consecutive home video games against Golden State, their longest energetic home profitable streak against a convention opponent. The Warriors had last beat the Clippers in Los Angeles on Nov. 28, 2021 at Staples Center, then their home area.

The Warriors’ reward is a flight to Phoenix where they’ll take on the Suns in a Friday evening matchup to resolve the eighth and ultimate playoff seed in the Western Conference. The Suns had a probability to clinch the No. 7 seed Monday but misplaced at home to Portland, 114-110. Should the Warriors prevail they’ll meet No. 1-seeded and defending champion Oklahoma City in a best-of-seven sequence opening Sunday on the street.

Steve Kerr, who has coached Golden State to 4 NBA championships in 12 seasons, acknowledged before the sport that his crew was prepared for the problem — and it was.

“We have a lot of veteran guys who have been through big moments,” Kerr said. “It’s the exact same vibe as any other elimination game — you have to be locked in. We’re aware that this is an opportunity we may not get again, we don’t know. The first year [of the play-in] we were the eighth seed and I hated it. This year we’re 10th and I love it. I think it’s good for the league.”

After their disastrous start the Clippers went 36-19 the remaining of the best way and grew to become the first crew in NBA historical past to dip 15 video games below .500 and end with a profitable file. Leonard performed 65 video games and averaged a career-best 27.9 factors, however Wednesday’s loss was a bitter capsule to swallow.

“They had a great game plan, being physical all game and making sure I don’t get my catch-and-shoot shots,” Leonard said. “Draymond Green is a Hall of Fame defender — it was hard to get shots. I’m not used to losing a lot of games early in the season. We could’ve easily let go of the rope but we made strides and the eight seed was right there, but in the end it wasn’t good enough.”

Entering the last yr of a three-year contract, Leonard was requested if he wished to stay with the Clippers.

“I’m going to cry about this loss a little more and we’ll have our discussions when the time comes.” he said.

The Clippers dropped to 6-8 all-time in the postseason against the Warriors. Lopez had 17 factors, Derrick Jones Jr. had 13, John Collins had 11 and Kris Dunn had seven factors and 10 assists.