Clippers at Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are on the verge of clinching the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs and are firing on all cylinders as the regular season winds to a close. The Los Angeles Clippers, who visit the Warriors on Sunday, are still trying to sort out their spot in the bottom half of the West and will likely wind up somewhere between the No. 6 and the No. 8 spot.
Golden State owns a two-game lead over the second-place Denver Nuggets with three to play and is riding a four-game winning streak after scratching past the Cleveland Cavaliers 120-114 on Friday. The Warriors, who close the regular season with a two-game trip to New Orleans and Memphis, will be playing their final regular-season home game Sunday at Oracle Arena before moving across the bay to a new home in San Francisco next season. The Clippers are in a rut after suffering a 135-103 home loss to Houston and following that with a 122-117 setback to a depleted Los Angeles Lakers squad. "We lose a couple more, we'll be in the eight seed," Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers told reporters after Friday's setback. "That would be really smart on our part. (The seeding) matters. It absolutely matters. I don't think anybody wants to go play Golden State. If we have to, we'll be ready. But my guess is the other seven teams aren't volunteering. That's all I'm going to say."
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FS Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), NBCS Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (47-33): Los Angeles won six straight and 11 of 12 prior to the recent two-game slide and veteran guard Lou Williams is trying to keep some of the younger players on the team focused on the goals in front of them. "We have a lot of first-time guys, and once we clinched, we kind of took our foot off the gas a little bit," Williams told reporters. "That comes with experience. I think myself and (Danilo Gallinari) need to try and do a better job to get the message across to those guys that they have to finish the season as strong as they can." Rookie guard Landry Shamet struggled in Friday's loss, going scoreless on 0-of-3 shooting.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (55-24): Superstar point guard Stephen Curry scored 40 points on Friday while going 9-of-12 from 3-point range, one night after managing seven points and going 1-of-9 from beyond the arc in a win at the Lakers. "You knew Steph was going to have a good night, because he had a tough night last night," Golden State coach Steve Kerr told reporters. "He rarely ever has two bad shooting nights in a row. He's one of those guys who takes so much pride in his game and in his shooting that after a poor shooting night, he's going to be refocused, charged up and ready to go. He was great right from the outset." Curry made at least five 3-pointers in 10 of the last 11 contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Gallinari handed out a season-high eight assists to go with 27 points on Friday.
2. Warriors SF Andre Iguodala (toe) sat out the last two games and is day-to-day.
3. Golden State took two of the first three meetings, including a 129-127 home triumph on Dec. 23.