Warriors vs. Suns play‑in
Golden State faces Phoenix tonight for the Western Conference’s final playoff spot, with bookmakers opening Phoenix as a slight favorite and the Warriors arriving on a huge 43‑point fourth‑quarter surge against the Clippers. (si.com) Dillon Brooks has said he wanted to face Golden State, adding a public edge to the matchup against Stephen Curry. (nytimes.com) (sports.yahoo.com)
Golden State and Phoenix meet Friday night in a winner-take-all play-in game for the Western Conference’s No. 8 seed. (nba.com) The game tips at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Pacific, at Phoenix’s Mortgage Matchup Center, with Prime Video carrying the national broadcast. The winner moves into the playoffs; the loser is done. (nba.com) Phoenix got a second chance because the National Basketball Association’s play-in format gives the No. 7 seed another game after a loss, while Golden State had to survive as the No. 10 seed. The league’s format sends seeds 7 through 10 into a mini-bracket to decide the final two playoff spots. (nba.com) The Suns lost 114-110 to Portland on April 14 in the 7-vs.-8 game, which dropped them into Friday’s final play-in. Golden State reached this game by beating the Los Angeles Clippers 126-121 on April 15 in the 9-vs.-10 elimination game. (nba.com) Sportsbooks opened Phoenix as a small favorite, and ESPN listed the Suns at minus-3.5 on Friday. Phoenix also brings the better regular-season record into the game at 45-37, compared with Golden State’s 37-45. (espn.com) Golden State arrives with momentum from a comeback against the Clippers. Yahoo Sports noted the Warriors erased a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit, with Stephen Curry scoring 35 points and 27 after halftime. (sports.yahoo.com) That comeback set up a fifth meeting between the Pacific Division rivals this season, and Yahoo Sports said Golden State won three of the first four. Friday’s winner advances to face the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round on April 19. (sports.yahoo.com) Phoenix guard Dillon Brooks added a public edge before tipoff. NBC Bay Area reported Brooks said he wanted the Warriors, answering why with: “Steph and Draymond. That’s it. And Steve Kerr.” (nbcbayarea.com) Brooks also called Curry “one of the best players to ever do it” and said an elimination game against Golden State was “a good matchup for us,” according to reports aggregating his remarks from Thursday’s practice. (sports.yahoo.com) By late Friday, the bracket will be complete. One of these teams gets Oklahoma City on Sunday, April 19; the other starts its offseason. (nba.com)
