Play-in night two. Philadelphia used 31 points from Tyrese Maxey to claim the East 7-seed, booking a first-round date with the Boston Celtics. Then Stephen Curry — who recently returned from a lengthy injury — dragged Golden State back from 13 down in the fourth quarter, hit the three that gave the Warriors the lead for good with 50 seconds left, and eliminated the Clippers' season. Orlando now faces an elimination game against Charlotte. Golden State travels to Phoenix on Friday with their season on the line. The field keeps thinning.

The 7 and 8 seeds in each conference play each other first. The winner earns the 7-seed outright and heads to the first round. The loser gets one more shot.

The 9 and 10 seeds have their backs against the wall — same stakes, one game, winner advances. The loser goes home.

Those two survivors — the 7/8 loser and the 9/10 winner — then meet on Friday, April 17. The winner of that game becomes the 8-seed. The loser's season is over.

Philadelphia came in missing Joel Embiid — out for the postseason — and it showed early. Orlando kept it competitive through three quarters, with Desmond Bane carrying the Magic offensively as he scored 34 points. But it wasn’t enough as the Sixers pulled away for good in the fourth quarter.

Philadelphia's fourth-quarter engine was Tyrese Maxey, who scored 31 points, and VJ Edgecombe added 19 points and 11 rebounds as the Sixers weathered the absence of Embiid. Maxey was relentless in pick-and-roll actions, getting to his spots, attacking closeouts, and making the right play when Orlando tried to key on him. He didn't need Embiid — at least not on this night. Kelly Oubre Jr. provided a spark off the bench with multiple threes, and Andre Drummond anchored the interior without putting up Embiid-level rim protection numbers, though he did enough. Philadelphia's bench — which had been one of the team's calling cards all season — delivered again.

Orlando's night came down to whether anyone besides Bane could generate clean looks consistently, and the answer was mostly no. Paolo Banchero had a complicated night — points on the board but a mixed efficiency line and foul trouble that limited his impact in the fourth. Jalen Suggs hit a handful of threes to keep the Magic in it into the back half of the game. But the Sixers pulled away for good in the fourth quarter and Orlando couldn't sustain enough offensive firepower without a clean performance from their primary creators. The Magic's season is not over — they'll host Charlotte on Friday for the East 8-seed — but this was a missed opportunity.

Philadelphia claimed the East 7-seed and booked its ticket to face the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics in the first round. Orlando now faces a do-or-die game against Charlotte at home.

PHI 109 · ORL 97

This game had three acts. In the first, Curry briefly left the floor with a knee wrap and the Warriors fell apart — Draymond Green picking up a technical, Golden State combining for 8 turnovers, and Kawhi Leonard going coast to coast. In the second, Curry came back and the game tightened, but the Clippers controlled it through halftime. In the third, they pushed the lead to 13 early in the fourth, sat Curry for the first two minutes, and started counting down to Friday. Then the third act arrived, and Curry reminded everyone why this series was never over.

A 3-pointer by Gui Santos followed by another from Curry halved the Clippers' lead, then Kristaps Porzingis drove for an and-1 and drilled a 3-pointer of his own, and suddenly Golden State was within 100-97 with 8:16 left. Three straight 3-pointers by Al Horford brought the Warriors within two points with under four minutes left. Brook Lopez answered with a three for the Clippers. Then Draymond Green stripped Kawhi Leonard for a critical turnover. A fourth 3-pointer from Horford gave Golden State the lead with about two minutes left — their first lead since the second quarter. Curry silenced the Clippers crowd by breaking a tie with a three with 50.4 seconds remaining. Warriors 120, Clippers 117. The Clippers couldn't answer, and Golden State closed it out from the line.

Curry, who only recently returned from a prolonged injury, finished with 35 points — including the 3-pointer that gave the Warriors the lead for good. He was barely functional in the first half — 3 points on 1-of-6 shooting while briefly retreating to the locker room — and erupted for the rest of the game in a performance that belongs in his long catalog of playoff-moment auditions. Porzingis and Horford were the secondary architects of the comeback, each hitting multiple threes during the decisive run. Draymond was the defensive catalyst late, getting into Kawhi's pocket when LA needed a bucket most.

For the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard was dominant for long stretches — coast-to-coast finishes, creating for Darius Garland in the pick-and-roll, and generating a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter that felt decisive. Garland accumulated 5 fouls trying to guard Curry, which limited his late-game availability. Bennedict Mathurin went for 20 points off the bench with 9 rebounds and a career-high-tying 8 assists — an extraordinary all-around contribution that wasn't quite enough. The Clippers simply had no answer when Horford started heating up from three, and no answer for Curry when he caught fire in the final eight minutes.

Golden State advances to face the Phoenix Suns on Friday for the West 8-seed. The Clippers' season is over.

GSW 126 · LAC 121

Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors — 35 points in a must-win play-in game, 10 days removed from a knee injury, after going to the locker room in the first half with a knee wrap and returning to hit the shots that mattered most. The comeback was a collective effort, but the dagger three with 50 seconds left was his and his alone. If the Warriors are going anywhere in this postseason, it starts with whether Curry can keep doing this on an injured knee. On Wednesday night, the answer was yes.

LA Clippers (team) — They had a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter of a home play-in game and couldn't hold it. Garland fouled out trying to guard Curry. Kawhi's late possessions went cold when they needed them most. Lopez's three in response to Horford's run bought them two minutes of oxygen and nothing more. This was a winnable game — a game they should have won against a team who secured the 10-seed over a week ago — and now their season is over.