Sports

NBA Play-In Tournament: Takeaways From Warriors-Clippers, 76ers-Magic As Steph Curry Pulls Off Comeback

By Tyler Lauletta & Liam McKeone Sports Illustrated

Day 2 of the NBA play-in tournament has delivered.

The Warriors stunned the Clippers, absolutely refusing to go away and leaning on a late flurry to keep their season alive.

In the early game, the Sixers were able to defend home court against the Magic and secure a 109–97 win on Wednesday night, and with it, the No. 7 spot in the conference bracket and a first-round date with the Celtics on the line. The Magic will now face off against the Hornets on Friday for a shot at the No. 8 seed in East.

It was a great night of basketball. Magnificent, even. To help appreciate what we saw, here are three takeaways from the second slate of play-in tournament games-hopefully Friday will bring the same caliber of games.

Steph Curry did it again

Steph Curry put up another classic performance on Wednesday night.

The Warriors looked dead to rights at multiple points during their play-in game against the Clippers. They trailed by as many as 13 in the fourth quarter after basically trailing for the entire game. Golden State appeared to be teetering on the brink, and nobody would have been surprised if the team finally crumbled after an injury-riddled season marked by disappointment at every turn.

But Curry didn't let it happen.

The superstar scored 35 points on 12-for-23 shooting. Of those 35 points, 27 came in the second half. His last 10 came in the fourth quarter and the final bucket of the night was the biggest-a famous Curry stepback three that splashed in to give the Dubs the final lead with 50 seconds left.

It was an amazing performance by the greatest shooter we've ever seen. And it shouldn't be taken for granted. Curry missed nearly all of Golden State's games since February with a knee injury and his team fell apart without him. It felt like a lost season despite the greatness he was still capable of displaying every night.

Tonight's performance cemented the opposite. When Curry is playing like this, anything is possible. He shined in the way only Curry can shine on Wednesday and the Warriors will live to fight another day. That day is Friday, when they'll take on the Suns for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. If Al Horford, Kristaps Porziņģis and Draymond Green can step up the same way they did to win last night, the Dubs seem like they can beat anybody.

Do the 76ers have a shot against the Celtics?

It was not a pretty sight in Philadelphia on Wednesday night. The 76ers and Magic traded misses for most of the evening; Orlando finished the night shooting 41% from the floor while Philly clocked in at 45%. But for the home team, the win was all that mattered.

The Sixers, playing without Joel Embiid thanks to an emergency appendectomy, put forth a strong team effort to beat the Magic. Tyrese Maxey led the pack with 31 points on 11-for-25 shooting but hit a dry spell in the middle quarters that required his teammates to pick up the slack. And they did. VJ Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre Jr., Andre Drummond and Paul George all had big moments to keep Orlando at arm's length-capped off by a Drummond three to seal the game. The Magic did plenty to beat themselves but Philly had to earn its playoff berth.

Now eyes in the City of Brotherly Love can look ahead to the first round of the 2026 playoffs, where the Celtics await. Boston is one of the NBA's top teams and makes for a familiar foe with both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown back on the court together. Does Philly have a chance?

Without Embiid-probably not. Outside of Maxey the Sixers needed a group effort to score enough points to win on Wednesday, points that largely came about because of Orlando's defensive miscues. Such miscues can't be relied upon for points against a connected and focused Joe Mazzulla team. But the early-season meetings between the teams give Philadelphia plenty of reason for optimism given Boston's struggles to stop the speedy backcourt combo of Maxey and Edgecombe; the two combined to average 50 points per game in four meetings against the C's this year. And while Embiid's chances of returning seem very slim, the Sixers haven't given an update on his status since declaring him out indefinitely after surgery, so for now he qualifies as a wild card.

The Magic's collapse continues

The Magic's collapse continues

The Magic were fully expecting to be playing this game in Orlando as recently as Sunday afternoon. Then they lost to the Celtics' backups in a perfect summation of this underachieving squad's struggles this season. As one of the most disappointing teams in the NBA, Orlando regularly underperformed against all levels of competition. Wednesday was no different.

Paolo Banchero's brutal year continued against the Sixers as the former No. 1 pick took more shots than he scored points, going 7-for-22 from the field for 18 points in total. He missed a ton of open jumpers in the second half, any one of which could have swung the outcome. On the defensive end Banchero and all his teammates seemed disjointed and lacking in intensity at times despite this being effectively a playoff game.

It was a bad showing by Orlando. Now the season is on the brink.

If you want to relive the excitement of Wednesday night's games, below you'll find Sports Illustrated's live blog for the 76ers-Magic and Warriors-Clippers games.

NBA Play-In Tournament Live Blog-April 15

More NBA from Sports Illustrated



This article was originally published on www.si.com as NBA Play-In Tournament: Takeaways From Warriors-Clippers, 76ers-Magic As Steph Curry Pulls Off Comeback .

Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 3:30 PM.

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