It was therefore necessary to wait until the last seconds of the extension of the last game of the regular season to find out the fate of the Warriors and the Clippers, opposed on this last match to the air of Game 7.
After a tough battle, the Warriors, beaten 124 to 119, are the big losers of the evening. Despite all the determination of Stephen Curry (36 points) and Jimmty Butler (30 points), it was indeed James Harden and Kawhi Leonard (39 and 33 points) who had the last word!
The Clippers displayed their entry ambitions with the Harden-Leonard tandem which rhyme aggressiveness effectively. The continuation did not presage anything good when Stephen Curry had to go out quickly because of two personal faults, with an express return to the locker room (22-25). And then the spark Jimmy Butler changed the game, with a first dunk and two 2+1. Accompanied in his momentum by Brandin Podziemski, the former leader of the Heat thus inflicted an 11-0 to complete the first act (33-25).
Draymond Green won a 3-point to launch the second quarter, forcing Kawhi Leonard and Bogdan Bogdanovic to answer, also from afar.
These are then two interior baskets of Ivica Zubac and two 3-point arrows from Kris Dunn who gradually brought the clippers in the blow shortly before the break (46-45). It was then the Leonard-Harden-Powell trio which fired from afar to respond to the two new 3-points of Stephen Curry, with a city center signed Norman Powell at the buzzer of the first half to place the Californians in mind (58-60).
Stephen Curry on the two fingers of the feat
The third quarter took on the trenches of the trenches, with the Harden-Leonard-Zubac triplet on one side to score 21 of the 23 points of the clippers, and on the other a unleashed Jimmy Butler who did everything possible to keep his family in the game, even if as at the end of the second quarter, it was a basket of Norman Powell who put the front (82-83).
The Clippers first instructed in the last act by passing a 7-0 concluded by a big dunk from the chief voltiger, Derrick Jones JR (86-92). Something to wake up a Stephen Curry who delivered a real recital on the end of the match. Author of 18 points, including two floaters and three 3-point baskets, he alone in this context, the Superstar leader of the Warriors did what is necessary to maintain his team in the match and then place it in a preferential position two minutes from the end (111-107).
In turn, the Clippers then made the right choices to stay alive, between an alley-oop slammed by Ivica Zubac and a final lay-up of James Harden to equalize at 111-111. In the last seconds, it was even Kawhi Leonard who had the winning ball, without being able to get rid of Draymond Green: extension!
Faced with an exhausted Stephen Curry, it was finally James Harden who knew how to finish the strongest, between his two 3-point baskets who air conditioned the Chase Center, his two throws and his Floater Redica far too late by Jimmy Butler (117-121). Golden State believed there until the end, between the lay-up of Jimmy Butler and the 1/2 of Kawhi Leonard when killing the match (119-122). Six seconds from the end, Buddy Hield had the heavy task of saving his own on a “wrestling wrestling” to prevent it from being mistaken, but his attempt did not touch the circle.
What to remember
– Clippers in playoffs. With this success at the end of the suspense, the Clippers will go directly to the playoffs. Fifth, they will have to face Denver without the advantage of the field. For the Warriors, you will have to spend the play-in, with a first home game against Memphis to get the 7th spot.
-The fourth quarter of madness of Stephen Curry. If it was Jimmy Butler who had held the barrack until then, Stephen Curry delivered an irresistible fourth quarter with 18 points without missing a single shot, and three 3-point baskets that almost got into the legend. Paradoxically, his hot stroke has frozen the rest of the team a bit that could not find a relay on the last two minutes of the fourth quarter … The Warriors have passed so close….
– The last word for James Harden. What a finish of “The Beard” to conclude its beautiful season. In response to Stephen Curry's hot stroke, the rear of the Clippers knew how to keep his cool until the start of extension where he aligned two 3-point baskets, two throws and this Floater who took Jimmy Butler in default.
– A Draymond Green “little arm”. At 119-121, after a failure by Kawhi Leonard, Golden State benefited from a golden opportunity to equalize. Stephen Curry found Gary Payton II who was able to serve Draymond Green alone under the circle. In the preferential position, the Warriors veteran has procrastinated and his lay-up bounced against the outside of the circle. This time, Golden State's chance had just passed.
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How to read the stats? Min = minutes; Shots = successful shots / tempted shots; 3pts = 3-point / 3-point attempted; LF = Successful free throws / tempted free throws; O = offensive rebound; D = defensive rebound; T = total rebounds; PD = assists; FTE: Personal faults; Int = interceptions; BP = lost bullets; CT: against; +/- = Differential points when the player is on the field; Pts = points; EVAL: evaluation of the player calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
