How the Warriors can upset the Clippers

The Golden State Warriors face the LA Clippers on Wednesday night, in the first round of the play-in tournament. For the Dubs, the stakes are simple: win and advance, or lose and go home.

Golden State is not the favorite to win, and you can point to any number of reasons why. They were the worse team this year, finishing with a 37-45 record and a -1.0 garbage time-adjusted net rating, compared to 42-40 and +1.4, respectively, for the Clippers. They ended the season with seven losses in their final eight games, while LAC eight wins in their last 12 games. And in the regular season finale, which fittingly pitted the Warriors against the Clippers, LA prevailed … despite resting Kawhi Leonard, while the Dubs used Steph Curry (but not Draymond Green).

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Add in the fact that the game will be played at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, and the Clippers are the clear favorites. But that doesn’t mean the Warriors can’t win. Far from it, in fact. Here are a few different ways that the Dubs can best the Clippers in the best-of-one series.

Steph Curry

That’s it. That’s the entire point. Leonard is healthier and in more rhythm than Curry, but the Warriors still have the most dynamic player on the court, and the one who is capable of taking over a game the most. He’ll be on a minutes restriction, but we all know what he’s capable of during the time he’s on the court. The Warriors are 3-1 when Curry clears 40 points this year, and all three wins are mighty impressive: a home contest against the Denver Nuggets, and two road victories over the San Antonio Spurs.

When the postseason rolls around, the biggest advantage a team can have is to employ the best player in the game or series. Curry is the best player in this game.

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Draymond Green locks down Kawhi Leonard

Leonard is an all-time great player, and even at this stage in his career, we’ve seen just how brilliant he can be. But the Clippers, for as well coached as they are, are not the world’s deepest team, and they live and die by Leonard.

The Klaw has scored 40 or more points on five occasions this season, and the Clippers have amassed five…

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Publish date : 2026-04-15 02:45:00

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