March 1, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) passes the ball to center Brook Lopez (11) in the second half of the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Image The Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors will duel in San Francisco on Monday night, two teams fighting for NBA play-in positioning and two teams fighting for what could be a decisive tiebreaker.
The clubs split their two previous meetings, each winning on their home court. More than two months after the Warriors dominated the October contest, winning 98-79, the Clippers harassed Jimmy Butler III with an errant 16-footer at the buzzer signaling a 103-102 victory for the hosts in the January rematch.
The Clippers moved into ninth place in the Western Conference playoff chase with a 137-117 home win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night. They will take the court Monday two and a half games behind eighth-place Golden State.
Los Angeles will have to endure two consecutive nights in which the club has played a quarter of its game this season, but Golden State enters the contest in much worse shape.
An examination of star guard Stephen Curry’s painful right knee on Saturday showed improvement, but not enough to warrant a return to the Warriors’ lineup. That means he will miss his 11th straight game on Monday and at least four more before another checkup scheduled for next week.
“Can you have a good day? And I did it,” Curry told ABC during Saturday’s nationally televised 129-101 home loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. “So hopefully they can get me on the court quickly.
“It’s kind of weird. You can’t predict how it’s going to heal, but it’s been going on every day since All-Star Weekend. That’s all I can ask for.”
The Warriors are also without Butler, who is out for the season with an ACL injury, and have played their last four games without newly acquired Kristaps Porzingis. Kristaps Porzingis is suffering from an illness and will miss Monday’s game.
Even while they’ve alternated between losses and wins over their last five games, the Warriors entered the contest in better form than the Clippers, who had lost three straight before Sunday’s loss to the Pelicans.
Reserve Jordan Miller was the only Clipper to play more than 29 minutes of action in the leadoff win, potentially opening the door for Kawhi Leonard to play on both ends of the streak.
Leonard had played 14 consecutive games, including three in a row, before being sidelined in last Thursday’s home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves with a left ankle injury. He played 29 minutes against the Pelicans, less than his average of 30.6 minutes over 14 games.
The Clippers are expected to debut a new weapon on Monday when guard Darius Garland is scheduled to make his team debut after being acquired at the trade deadline from the Cleveland Cavaliers. The son of former Warriors guard Winston Garland has not played since Jan. 14 due to a sprained right big toe.
Garland cited Leonard’s presence as a major reason he wants to get back on the floor.
“When it first happened, I was a bit skeptical.” He spoke to reporters about joining the Clippers. “But I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to play with another Hall of Famer (Leonard) and have the ball in his hands almost 99 percent of the time.”
–Field level media
