NBA Picks 4/15 – Warriors @ LA Clippers

by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

The NBA Play-in Tournament continues tonight as the No. 10 seed Golden State Warriors (37-45 in the regular season) visits the No. 9 seed Los Angeles Clippers (45-37) at Intuit Dome on Prime Video. The winner of tonight’s contest will travel to face the Phoenix Suns to compete for the 8th seed on Friday night, while the loser will have their season come to an end.

The Pacific division combatants faced off four times during the regular season, the Clippers won three of the four matchups against the Warriors. Golden State won the first meeting 98-79 early in the season on Oct. 29, and the Clippers won the next three. Los Angeles has dominated Golden State of late winning nine of the last 10 meetings. Golden State’s victory against the Clippers in October broke a seven-game losing streak against them.

Los Angeles is a 5-point favorite and the total is 221.5.

Midway through 2024-25 season on Feb. 7, 2025, the floundering Golden State Warriors acquired veteran superstar Jimmy Butler III from the Miami Heat in a blockbuster trade. Despite amassing a stellar 6-year tenure with Miami — where he carried the team to the NBA Finals in 2020 and 2023 — Butler III wore out his welcome with the Heat due to a contract dispute. Golden State immediately inked Butler to a two-year, $111 extension after acquiring him.

Adding Jimmy Butler III looked to be a brilliant move as the struggling Warriors finished out the 2024-25 season 23-8 with him. Golden State went from 25-26 prior to Butler III’s arrival to finishing the regular season with a 48-34 mark. Golden State earned the No. 7 seed in the playoffs and knocked off the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets 4-3 in the first round.

The Warriors seemed primed to make a deep playoff run after picking up an easy 99-88 victory at six-seeded Minnesota in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals (2nd round), but Steph Curry suffered a left hamstring strain in the Game 1 victory. The injury kept him out for the rest of the series which led to Golden State dropping four straight games and having their season come to an end at the hands of Minnesota.

Despite the frustrating end to the 2024-25 season, there was plenty of optimism for Golden State coming into the 2025-26 campaign because they would have an entire season of ageless superstar Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler III playing together. Unfortunately, the 2025-26 season ended up being disastrous. Chemistry issues and defensive woes led to a disappointing start as the Warriors hovered around .500 through mid-January.

And just when it seemed as if Golden State was turning things around, Jimmy Butler III suffered a season-ending torn ACL in his right knee on Jan. 19. Eleven days later on Jan. 30, Golden State’s situation went from bad to worse when Steph Curry experienced right knee soreness during a loss to Detroit. The knee injury sidelined him for the next 27 games. Curry returned on April 5, the Warriors went 9-18 without him during that stretch.

The veteran superstar duo of Steph Curry (26.6 ppg, 4.7 asts, 3.6 rebs, 1.1 stls, 4.4 threes, 46.8% from 2, 39.3% from 3) and Jimmy Butler III (20 ppg, 5.6 rebs, 4.9 asts, 1.4 stls, 51.9% from 2) ended up playing in just 43 and 38 games, respectively. The absence of both players led to a season-long struggle for the Warriors and an 11-game decrease in wins from the 2024-25 campaign (48-34). Golden State’s 37 wins was their fewest in a non-COVID or strike-shortened season since 2010-11 when they finished 36-46.

Golden State acquired talented, but oft-injured big man Kristaps Porzingis from the Atlanta Hawks in a trade on Feb. 5. The 30-year-old, former All-Star has played well with Golden State (16.1 ppg, 5.3 rebs, 1.1 blks, 1.5 threes in 16 gms) and could be a huge factor for the Warriors if he’s healthy and plays at a high level.

Emerging third-year guard Brandin Podziemski (career-high 13.8 ppg, 5.1 asts, 1.1 stls, 1.9 threes, 45.5% from 2, 37.1% from 3 in 82 gms) was arguably the most consistent and most valuable Warrior this year due to the fact that he played in all 82 games and increased his production for a third straight season.

Golden State is unlikely to make a deep playoff run this year, but it will be interesting to see how this team does next year if Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler III and Kristaps Porzingis can stay healthy for the entire 2026-27 season.

Much like tonight’s opponent, the Los Angeles Clippers were also hoping that a veteran superstar duo (Kawhi Leonard and James Harden) could lead the team to a championship. But injuries and poor personnel decisions led to a horrific 6-21 start to the season. Los Angeles caught fire after falling to 6-21 on Dec. 18. They went 17-4 over the next 21 games and improved their record to 23-25.

Despite turning their season around after the dismal 6-21 start, the Clippers made the decision to essentially tank the season by trading two of its stars in James Harden (to Cleveland) and Ivica Zubac (to Indiana) at the trade deadline in February. Trading Harden and Zubac seemed like a questionable move when you consider that the Clippers were arguably the hottest team in the NBA at the time. The oft-injured Kawhi Leonard was also relatively healthy and playing at an MVP-level.

It was rumored that James Harden felt the Clippers did not have a legit chance at winning an NBA title so he requested a trade to a contending team. Once the Clippers were able to move Harden, trading Ivica Zubac became an easy decision. The Clippers did get back a pair of promising young players in 23-year-old athletic swingman Benedict Mathurin (from Indiana) and 26-year-old Darius Garland (from Cleveland).

Darius Garland (19.9 ppg, 6.4 asts, 1.2 stls, 3.3 threes, 47.1% from 2, 43.8% from 3 in 19 gms w/LAC) was selected as an All-Star twice (2022 and 2024) during his 6 years with Cleveland. Garland averaged at least 20 ppg in three of his previous four seasons prior to this year. Benedict Mathurin (17.4 ppg, 5.5 rebs, 1 stl in 26 gms w/ LAC) established himself as a reliable scorer coming off the bench or in a starting role during his four seasons with Indiana. Both players figure to have prominent roles with the Clippers moving forward.

Through all the roster upheaval and topsy-turvy nature of the season, veteran superstar Kawhi Leonard compiled a stellar campaign in year 15. The 34-year-old, two-time NBA Finals MVP averaged 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.9 steals and 2.6 threes per game on 50.5 percent shooting from the floor and 38.7 percent shooting from beyond the arc in 65 games. Leonard’s 27.9 ppg is his highest scoring output since the 2019-20 season — his first season with the Clippers. Leonard also participated in 65 games for just the third time in the last 9 seasons.

Kawhi Leonard enters this postseason without serious injury concerns for one of the few times in recent years. It’s unfortunate that he’s on a team that will have an uphill climb just to make it out of the play-in tournament. We’d like to see how a healthy Leonard would do against the Western Conference powerhouses in the playoffs if he had a stronger supporting cast surrounding him.

Despite having the pride of being a 12-time All-Star, a four-time NBA champion and an NBA Finals MVP, I believe this season has likely been a huge drain on Steph Curry. The ageless superstar Curry missed 39 games, and watched his depleted team struggle every night without him.

I’m expecting the Clippers will put the Warriors out of their misery and send them to the NBA draft lottery where they could get lucky and land a top 3 pick in what draft gurus are saying is a loaded draft. Lay the Points and take the Clippers tonight!