The Los Angeles Clippers closed the regular season with a 115-110 win over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night at Intuit Dome, sealing the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference and locking in a play-in tournament rematch.
Bennedict Mathurin powered the Clippers’ bench with 20 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists, anchoring a second unit that dictated the game’s momentum. Los Angeles’ reserves outscored Golden State’s bench 71-56, a decisive margin in a tight finish.
The Clippers improved to 42-40 and will host the Warriors again on Wednesday in the 9-vs-10 play-in matchup. Golden State finished 37-45 and enters elimination territory needing a road win to extend its season.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 24 points on 4-of-9 shooting from three-point range, adding six rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes. His workload remained controlled after returning from a knee injury that had sidelined him for a significant stretch earlier in the season.
Los Angeles built its advantage through depth and late-game perimeter shooting. Bogdan Bogdanovic matched his season high with 17 points and hit five threes, including a key stretch of back-to-back-to-back makes in the fourth quarter.
John Collins added 18 points and nine rebounds as one of six Clippers players in double figures. The balanced scoring helped offset the absence of Kawhi Leonard, who sat out to manage ankle and wrist injuries.
Golden State kept the game competitive through multiple third-quarter runs, tying the score five times before the Clippers entered the fourth quarter ahead 83-81. From there, Los Angeles hit five three-pointers in the final period while the Warriors managed just one.
Defensive execution also shaped the closing minutes, with the Clippers tightening rotations and limiting clean looks from the perimeter. Golden State struggled to generate consistent stops during the final five-minute stretch.
The result extends Los Angeles’ strong home trend against Golden State, winning 11 of the last 12 meetings at home and nine straight overall in the matchup. The Warriors have not won on the road against the Clippers since November 2021.
With the play-in stage now set, both teams return to Intuit Dome for a high-stakes rematch where the season becomes single elimination.
