The Los Angeles Clippers worked overtime to clinch a playoff spot — and send the Golden State Warriors to the NBA's play-in tournament.
The final game to end the regular season was a big one for seeding in the Western Conference, with the Clippers beating the Warriors 124-119 in overtime Sunday to clinch the No. 5 seed.
The Warriors fell to No. 7 and will host No. 8 Memphis on Tuesday, with the winner earning the No. 7 seed.
Had Golden State won, the Clippers would have fallen to seventh. But James Harden prevented that with 39 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds to cap an All-Star season for the former NBA MVP and give the Clippers an eighth straight win and a 50-32 record.
“We’re a good team and we’re excited to show the world, but we’re a good team,” Harden said in a postgame interview with ESPN on the court.
The West bracket wasn't set until a final day that had numerous teams in the running for numerous positions after the top three of Oklahoma City, Houston and the Los Angeles Lakers was already determined.
The Denver Nuggets regrouped after their chaotic final week that included the firing of coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth to secure the No. 4 seed and home-court advantage in the first round against the Clippers by beating the Rockets 126-111.
The Lakers, Nuggets and Clippers all finished 50-32, with Los Angeles having the tiebreaker to finish No. 3 and start a series in Los Angeles for the first time since 2012.
The Timberwolves — who could have slipped all the way to eighth in some scenarios — instead landed in the No. 6 spot at 49-33 following their 116-105 victory over Utah. Anthony Edwards scored 43 points after stressing to his teammates the urgency to avoid having to play at least one more game.
“Like, we don’t want to play in the play-in, because I’ve been in both situations,” the All-Star guard said. “We want to be fully prepared going into the playoffs. We want that whole week.”
So did the Warriors, who have never won a game in the play-in tournament. They would have finished sixth to set up another marquee matchup between Stephen Curry and LeBron James in the postseason and have just two days to shake off the disappointment.
“We’re right where we want to be,” forward Jimmy Butler said. “We’ve still got an opportunity and we control our own fate. We’re going to be just fine.”
Sacramento is No. 9 and Dallas No. 10 in the West. They will play Wednesday in Sacramento, with the winner having to beat the loser of the Golden State-Memphis game to face the top-seeded Thunder in the first round.
There was no final-day drama in the East, where everything had already been decided.
Cleveland is No. 1 and Boston is No. 2, and they will await the two teams to advance from the play-in. The No. 3 New York Knicks will face the No. 6 Detroit Pistons, and No. 4 Indiana will meet No. 5 Milwaukee.
Orlando is No. 7 and will host eighth-seeded Atlanta on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to face the Celtics. The loser will get another shot against the winner of the game between No. 9 Chicago and No. 10 Miami.
Besides the victories by the Nuggets and Clippers, the Indiana Pacers beat Cleveland in two overtimes to finish 50-32. That gave the NBA nine teams with at least 50 wins for the first time since 10 teams did it in 2014-15.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac (40) reacts after scoring against the Golden State Warriors during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 13, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Denver Nuggets forward Peyton Watson, center, celebrates his three point basket with Russell Westbrook during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets, Sunday, April, 13, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) reacts during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
SYDNEY (AP) — Two gunmen opened fire during a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney's Bondi beach, killing 15 people, including a child, officials said Monday, in what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an act of antisemitic terrorism that struck at the heart of the nation.
The massacre at one of Australia’s most popular beaches followed a wave of antisemitic attacks that have roiled the country over the past year, although the authorities didn’t suggest those and the shooting Sunday were connected. It was the deadliest shooting in almost three decades in a country with strict gun control laws.
One gunman, a 50-year-old man, was fatally shot by police. The other shooter, his 24-year-old son, was wounded and was being treated at a hospital, said Mal Lanyon, New South Wales police commissioner.
Police said one gunman was known to security services, but Lanyon said authorities had no indication of a planned attack.
Those killed were aged between 10- and 87-years-old, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns told reporters. At least 38 others were injured in the attack.
“What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism on our shores in an iconic Australian location, Bondi Beach, that is associated with joy, associated with families gathering, associated with celebrations,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday.
“It is forever tarnished by what has occurred.”
Police pledged a “thorough” investigation, Lanyon said. Authorities were not looking for anyone else in connection with the massacre.
The violence erupted at the end of a summer day when thousands had flocked to Bondi Beach, including hundreds gathered for the Chanukah by the Sea event celebrating the start of the eight-day Hanukkah festival.
Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movement that runs outreach worldwide and sponsors events during major Jewish holidays, identified one of the dead as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and an organizer of the event.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of an Israeli citizen, but gave no further details.
Police said emergency services were called at about 6:45 p.m., responding to reports of shots being fired. Video by onlookers showed people in bathing suits running from the water as shots rang out. Separate footage showed two men in black shirts firing with long guns from a footbridge leading to the beach.
One dramatic clip broadcast on Australian television showed a man appearing to tackle and disarm one gunman, before pointing the man’s weapon at him, then setting the gun on the ground.
Minns called the man, identified by relatives to Australian media as fruit shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed, a “genuine hero.”
Arsen Ostrovsky, a lawyer attending the Hanukkah ceremony with his wife and daughters, was grazed in the head by a bullet. Ostrovsky said he moved from Israel to Australia two weeks ago to work for a Jewish advocacy group.
“What I saw today was pure evil, just an absolute bloodbath. Bodies strewn everywhere,” he told The Associated Press in an email from the hospital. "I never thought would be possible here in Australia."
Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, told the AP he was waiting for his family when he heard shots.
"I sprinted as quickly as I could," Moran said. He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes. “Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible."
Albanese vowed the violence would be met with “a moment of national unity where Australians across the board will embrace their fellow Australians of Jewish faith.”
King Charles III said he and Queen Camilla were “appalled and saddened by the most dreadful antisemitic terrorist attack.” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on X he was horrified, and his “heart is with the Jewish community worldwide.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X: “The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Jewish celebration. Antisemitism has no place in this world.”
Police in cities around the world, including London, said they would step up security at Jewish sites.
Australia, a country of 28 million people, is home to about 117,000 Jews, according to official figures. Antisemitic incidents, including assaults, vandalism, threats and intimidation, surged more than threefold in the country during the year after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched a war on Hamas in Gaza in response, the government's Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal reported in July.
Last year, the country was rocked by antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and cars were torched, businesses and homes graffitied and Jews attacked in those cities, where 85% of the nation’s Jewish population lives.
Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the attacks and cut diplomatic ties to Tehran.
Pastor Matt Graham, who was conducting a service at Bondi Anglican Church when panicked people began entering for shelter, said antisemitism has been brewing in Sydney’s eastern suburbs including Bondi, where the Jewish community is centered.
“I’m surrounded by antisemitic graffiti constantly,” Graham told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "As a Christian, I just want to declare I stand with the people of Israel.”
Israel urged Australia's government to address crimes targeting Jews. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he warned Australia’s leaders months ago about the dangers of failing to take action against antisemitism. He claimed Australia's decision — in line with scores of other countries — to recognize a Palestinian state “pours fuel on the antisemitic fire.”
“Your government did nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia ... and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today,” Netanyahu said.
His office released safety recommendations Monday for Israelis traveling abroad, including avoiding large gatherings that don’t have security, especially events at synagogues and Hanukkah gatherings. It also called for heightened awareness at Jewish and Israeli sites.
Mass shootings in Australia are extremely rare. A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws, making it much more difficult to acquire firearms.
Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in 2014 and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves.
In 2022, six people were killed in a shootout between police and Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state.
McGuirk reported from Melbourne, Australia, and Graham-McLay from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Mustakim Hasnath in London contributed to this report.
Police patrol in the early morning following a shooting Sunday at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
A motorcycle lies on the ground in the early morning near the site of a shooting Sunday at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
A small Christmas tree is at the center of an abandoned holiday picnic at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Bystanders stay where police cordon off an area at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers standby at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
