Gui Santos described the Golden State Warriors’ 126-121 play-in victory over the Los Angeles Clippers as an “amazing” experience after a fourth-quarter comeback erased a 13-point deficit at Intuit Dome on Wednesday night.
“Gui, have a night, man. How fun was that down there in LA? Rattling from a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter,” Santos was asked postgame, before reflecting on the moment.
“Man, that was amazing. That was amazing. I couldn’t believe it that I was a part of that, you know,” Santos said. He pointed to the late-game execution as the turning point in the matchup.
“So, we were just there going back and bring energy. We still got Steph, you know,” Santos said, referencing Stephen Curry, who finished with 35 points, including 27 in the second half.
Golden State trailed 98-85 with 9:53 remaining before closing on a 16-6 run to secure the win and advance in the play-in tournament.
Santos credited the offensive gravity created by Curry, who hit key late threes, and the team’s defensive stands led by Draymond Green on Kawhi Leonard in the closing stretch.
“So it’s kind of easy for us to get back in a game when you got a guy like him,” Santos said. “That defense is stopped from Draymond. The couple great three-pointers that all got I think he got 12 points in the last quarter. That was big time threes for us.”
The forward also highlighted Al Horford’s fourth-quarter shooting surge, with four made threes helping swing momentum late.
“It was amazing, man. That was just great. Great game,” Santos said.
Santos explained that Golden State expected swings in momentum due to the playoff-level environment and the Clippers’ home-court pressure.
“So, we knew the game going to be like that, you know, like the game has ups and downs,” he said. “They have a couple runs on us.”
He added that composure remained steady even when the Clippers pushed ahead by double digits in the final quarter.
“They were up 13 on us in the last quarter, but we knew that’s the energy that we got to bring to come back in the game,” Santos said.
Santos also pointed to Curry’s off-ball impact and how defensive attention created scoring opportunities for teammates.
“There was a couple plays that I have a wide open layups because they were so worried about Steph,” he said. “There was two guys guarding Steph even when he was not with the ball.”
The Warriors forward noted that playing alongside high-usage stars has simplified decision-making in key possessions.
“That’s the great thing to have Steph on the team… he gave us that confidence,” Santos said.
Golden State now advances to face the Phoenix Suns on Friday, with a playoff spot on the line against the Western Conference’s top tier.
