Warriors spoil Jordan Clarkson’s 41 points, clinch play-in bid

Stephen Curry scored 36 points, including a go-ahead three-pointer with 14.5 seconds remaining, as the Golden State Warriors upended the Western Conference-leading Utah Jazz 119-116 on Monday, May 10 (Tuesday, May 11, Manila time) in San Francisco.

The Warriors (36-33) won not long after their spot in the postseason play-in tournament was secured.

Jordan Poole added 20 points and Kent Bazemore had 19 for the Warriors, who pushed their lead to as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter before the Jazz rallied late. Curry has scored at least 30 points in 37 games this season, reaching that benchmark in 20 of his past 22 contests.

Jordan Clarkson had 41 points for the Jazz, including 24 in the fourth quarter. Bojan Bogdanovic added 27 as Utah (50-19) saw its five-game winning streak come to an end.

Utah pushed ahead on two occasions late, including a 116-114 advantage with 1:11 remaining on a Clarkson step-back three-pointer. However, Clarkson missed all three of his shots the rest of the way, including a potential game-tying three-pointer with 4.9 seconds remaining.

Utah was without leading scorer Donovan Mitchell (ankle) for the 13th consecutive game and without fellow starting guard Mike Conley (hamstring) for the eighth contest in a row. The Jazz lost for just the second time over those eight games.

One season after the Warriors finished with the worst record in the NBA, they will play at least one game after the current regular-season ends. Their play-in spot was clinched after the New Orleans Pelicans lost to the Memphis Grizzlies earlier Monday.

Andrew Wiggins scored 14 points for the Warriors, while Draymond Green added 12 points, 10 assists, and 6 rebounds. Kevon Looney added 13 rebounds for Golden State.

Rudy Gobert had 10 points and 16 rebounds for the Jazz, who still have a 1 1/2-game lead on the second-place Phoenix Suns. Utah, which hasn’t won a Western Conference regular-season title since 1997-98, has three regular-season games remaining.

Poole hit a shot from just beyond half court at the third-quarter buzzer that gave the Warriors a 89-75 lead. The hosts appeared ready to finish off the victory from there, but Utah stayed in it by outscoring the Warriors 41-30 in the final quarter. – Rappler.com