Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors once ruled over the NBA, but they now find themselves in the play-in tournament for the third year in a row. The Warriors finished 10th in the Western Conference in this 2025-26 season with a 37-45 record and will take on the ninth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers in a do-or-die play-in clash on Wednesday.
We got a bit of a preview of that contest on Sunday, as the Clippers beat the Warriors 115-110 at the Intuit Dome on the final day of the regular season. The game was just the second that Curry had started since returning from patellofemoral pain syndrome, and the superstar guard looked ahead to the rematch in his postgame press conference.
“It’s going to be fun,” Curry said, via NBC Sports Bay Area & California. “I mean, we know who they are. Played them twice since the trade deadline. And a little faster pace, obviously without Kawhi [Leonard] tonight, but we know what he’s about and how well he’s been playing. So, it’s just going to be which team can get a game plan together, but stick to that as much as possible.
“They’re a physical defensive team that likes to switch a lot,” Curry continued. “So, we got to be properly spaced on offense, and we had some good stretches tonight to kind of show that without Draymond [Green], so we’re ready to have him back for Wednesday.”
Keeping Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard, who missed this game with a left ankle sprain, quiet is going to be key for the Warriors. Leonard had an outstanding 2025-26 campaign, averaging 27.9 points on 50.5% shooting from the field. He wasn’t quite at his dominant best when these teams faced off, though.
Leonard averaged 21.7 points on 46.4% shooting from the field in three games against the Warriors. The Clippers still went 2-1 in the games he played, though, and 3-1 overall. They are the favorites for good reason.
This play-in tournament isn’t one in which the Warriors have been all too successful, either. They entered it as the eighth seed in 2021 when it was first introduced and failed to make it to the playoffs after losing to the Los Angeles Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Warriors were then back in it in 2024 as the 10th seed and lost to the Sacramento Kings in the first game to get knocked out. That dropped them to 0-3 in the tournament.
The Warriors would finally get their first win in 2025 when they entered as the seventh seed and beat the Grizzlies in their first game. They’re going to have to win two in a row this time around, though, to advance.
Finishing 10th in the West twice in three seasons is far from ideal, but the Warriors had the injury excuse this time around. Jimmy Butler tore his ACL in January, and Curry has only played 43 games. The Warriors have at least been able to ease the two-time MVP back to action, as they had been locked in to the 10th seed for a while.
Curry was asked here about going from games where the result didn’t really matter to a do-or-die clash, and he thinks the transition won’t be difficult for this group.
“Super easy because we’ve been there before, whether it’s a Game 7 or that many play-in games that we’ve been fortunate enough to play in,” Curry stated. “Mentally, it’s just come with the right approach, the right mentality. As a group, we’re going to have to withstand some runs. We know the ups and downs of you’re not going to play perfect.
“But can we just play hard for 48 minutes and not shoot ourselves in the foot with turnovers like we did in the Sacramento game, or allowing a team to play to their strengths, and that’s just game plan discipline,” Curry added. “So, if we can do those things, you can give yourself a chance, and that’s all you want. It should be fun either way it goes.”
What would also help the Warriors come away with a win is a Curry masterclass. The 38-year-old had 24 points (7-14 FG), six rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block in 29 minutes against the Clippers. Those minutes will be going up on Wednesday, and you wouldn’t bet against Curry shining on the big stage.
