{"id":711615,"date":"2026-04-16T07:17:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T07:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/711615\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T07:17:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T07:17:03","slug":"clippers-collapse-in-play-in-tournament-delivers-thunder-a-lottery-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/711615\/","title":{"rendered":"Clippers\u2019 collapse in Play-In Tournament delivers Thunder a lottery gift"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kawhi<\/p>\n

Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points Wednesday night, but it was not enough for the Clippers. Katelyn Mulcahy \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

April 16, 2026Updated 2:32 am EDT<\/p>\n

INGLEWOOD, Calif. \u2014 As the final horn sounded inside Intuit Dome on Wednesday night, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors spilled onto the court, celebrating a wild, come-from-behind win<\/a> in the NBA\u2019s Play-In Tournament.<\/p>\n

The home crowd was stunned. The LA Clippers were shocked. And along press row, a few scouts watching it all unfold were also upset.<\/p>\n

\u201cF\u2014!\u201d one shouted. \u201cOKC gets another lottery pick.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the immediate aftermath of the 126-121 Warriors victory, the ripple effects stretched well beyond those in attendance. The Clippers\u2019 elimination means the 2026 first-round pick owed to Oklahoma City will enter the lottery. Slotted at No. 12, the pick carries a 7.1 percent chance of jumping into the top four and a 1.5 percent chance of becoming the No. 1 pick.<\/p>\n

The 2026 pick is the final asset headed to Oklahoma City from the 2019 blockbuster trade that sent Paul George to L.A. The deal also delivered future MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a haul of picks and draft-pick swaps and Danilo Gallinari to the Thunder.<\/p>\n

The Washington Wizards, Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets \u2014 the league\u2019s three worst teams \u2014 each hold a 14 percent chance at the top pick. The Clippers could receive the Pacers\u2019 first-round pick if it falls between Nos. 5 and 9 as part of the Ivica Zubac trade at the deadline.<\/p>\n

\"Connections:\"Connections:<\/p>\n

Apr 16, 2026<\/p>\n

Connections: Sports Edition<\/p>\n

Spot the pattern. Connect the terms<\/p>\n

Find the hidden link between sports terms<\/p>\n

Play today’s puzzle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points Wednesday night, but it was not enough for the Clippers. Katelyn Mulcahy \/…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":711616,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7,135,6,179],"class_list":{"0":"post-711615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-los-angeles-clippers","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116413165011802023","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/711616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}