With the shot clock winding and Chase Center at a volume that carried through closed corridors, Stephen Curry received a screen from Draymond Green on the left wing, took two dribbles right, and rose over Kawhi Leonard to sink the three-pointer that put the Warriors ahead for good with 40 seconds left in a 126-121 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on 15 April 2026. The NBA play-in tournament delivered exactly what it promised: a night where legacies and livelihoods tilted on single possessions.
It was the fourth time in seven years that Curry and the Warriors have fought off a season-ending threat in the play-in or the first round. The pattern by now is almost ritual — a stumble during the regular season, a near-death experience in April, then a Curry performance that reminds everyone why Golden State remains the league's most combustible roster at crunch time. Curry finished with 35 points on 12-for-22 shooting, including 6-for-13 from three. His final three came off a pick-and-roll the Clippers had successfully defended three times already in the fourth quarter.
Los Angeles had genuine reasons for optimism entering Chase Center. Kawhi Leonard — who has appeared in more than 60 regular-season games just twice in the past seven years — finished this campaign healthy enough to start, and he delivered: 22 points and 10 rebounds. Paul George contributed 21. The Clippers led by 8 at the end of the third quarter, and for a roughly four-minute stretch in the fourth it looked as though their season might extend to Friday. Then it ended on a Curry three that landed with the precision of a closing argument.
