INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- The last game of the first round of the SoFi Play In Tournament went to the Los Angeles Clippers v. the Golden State Warriors. It was either Kawhi Leonard and the rest of the Clippers team that goes home with their playoff hopes crushed, or Steph Curry and the rest of the Warriors.
Ultimately in true NBA playoff basketball fashion, it was a comeback thriller that sent the Clippers packing and Golden State moving onto the next. 126-121 was the final score from Inglewood, California. This game was the Clippers to win, but in a fashion that's not unfamiliar to them, they let it slip away. This Clippers team led for 41 minutes of the show down, and found a way to give it up with less than three minutes to go. Los Angeles led 86% of the time, compared to the Warriors only in the lead 9% of the game. The Clippers also topped the Warriors when it came to lead size, as the Clippers largest lead was 13 in the fourth quarter, while the Warriors best lead was seven.
Following the final buzzer the head coach of the Clippers Ty Lue both recognized that his team gave forth the best that they could, as well as giving credit to the championship pedigree that they just went up against. “You could feel that you know, when we increased the lead they never wavered with their confidence. And they execute and they've been together for a while and they run good stuff.”
The high intensity of this win or go home game had Warriors fans and Clippers fans battling back and forth on who could chant louder in Intuit Dome Arena.
Guard for the Clippers Darius Garland who just concluded his seventh season in the NBA addressed the media following the loss. “Not the way we wanted to end the season but I tip my hat off to this group.” Garland who put up 21 points in 31 minutes was a leader for this team since getting traded in the middle of the season from Cleveland to Los Angeles.
Although Golden State was trailing for the majority of the game, there is no chance of counting out the veteran talent and experience that is still oozing from the Northern California team. Warriors star point guard Stephen Curry, who is only a few games back from an extensive injury, dropped 35 points in 36 minutes. 27 of those points were scored in the second half. The chef drained seven 3-pointers when they counted most, recorded four assists and a steal.
By the time there was 2:12 left in the game, Al Horford drained a 3-pointer fed to him by Curry to give the Warriors a one point lead. The score board read 117-115, as the Warriors secured their first lead since the second quarter. Horford looked unreal in the final minutes of the game for the Warriors. Horford’s four 3-pointers added to the spice of the night that largely contributed to the Warriors walking away with the victory. He was one of three players that came off the bench for Golden State, and he made every moment count, scoring 14 points in 22 minutes and securing three rebounds.
After the game Curry said, “it was beautiful watch,” when talking about watching Horford do his thing.