Horford’s late 3s lift Warriors past Clippers

Al Horford drilled four 3-pointers in the final 5:37 as the Golden State Warriors erased a late deficit and beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 126-121, in a Western Conference play-in game on Wednesday in Inglewood, California.

The victory kept 10th-seeded Golden State alive and sent the Warriors into a sudden-death game against the Phoenix Suns on Friday in Phoenix for the Western Conference’s No. 8 seed and a first-round matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The loss ended the Clippers’ season.

Horford’s barrage capped a 27-13 closing run by Golden State in a game the Clippers appeared to control for most of the night. The 39-year-old veteran had only two points off the bench before his late surge and finished with 14.

Stephen Curry delivered the final dagger.

Curry scored 35 points and buried a deep 3-pointer with 50.4 seconds left to put Golden State ahead, 120-117, for good. He made seven of his 12 attempts from beyond the arc as the Warriors shot 19-for-41 from long range, good for 46.3%.

Even with Curry’s big night, Horford became the defining figure in the closing stretch.

Two of Horford’s late baskets came off assists from Gui Santos, with a pair of Curry assists also setting up the veteran center’s decisive outside shooting.

Santos turned in one of Golden State’s most complete performances, finishing with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists. Kristaps Porzingis also scored 20 points for the Warriors and helped ignite the fourth-quarter comeback.

Porzingis sparked a pivotal stretch when he converted an and-one and followed it with a 3-pointer, cutting a nine-point Clippers lead to three with 8:17 remaining.

Los Angeles responded through Darius Garland, who answered with an and-one of his own before feeding Brook Lopez for a basket inside.

Garland then knocked down a 3-pointer to restore a nine-point Clippers advantage at 6:37, but it proved to be the last moment the home team looked firmly in command.

Garland and Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points apiece as the Clippers built a lead as large as 13 points. Bennedict Mathurin added 23 points off the bench to lead Los Angeles in scoring.

The Clippers could not create enough separation in the second half, especially as Leonard faded late.

Leonard committed two turnovers in the fourth quarter and scored his only points of the period on a dunk in the closing seconds, after Golden State had effectively sealed the game. He had 14 points in the first half, including a coast-to-coast slam just before halftime.

For the Warriors, the comeback added another chapter to a season defined by instability and persistence.

Golden State entered the play-in as the only team in the field with a sub-.500 record at 37-45, and Curry had recently returned from a right knee injury under a minutes restriction. That made Wednesday’s escape even more significant as the Warriors extended their season by at least one more game.