Suns eliminate Warriors
- The Phoenix Suns beat the Golden State Warriors and knocked Golden State out of the NBA play‑in, ending their season. - Phoenix won 111–96, and Stephen Curry scored 17 points while also breaking an NBA play‑in record. - The result closed the play‑in window as the full playoffs began this weekend, with coverage noting the outcome and record ( ).
Phoenix ended Golden State’s season Friday night, beating the Warriors 111-96 in the Western Conference play-in game for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) Jalen Green scored 36 points and hit eight 3-pointers for Phoenix, while Devin Booker added 20 in front of a listed crowd of 17,071 at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix. (espn.com) Stephen Curry finished with 17 points on 4-of-16 shooting, and those points pushed him past the previous NBA play-in career scoring mark. Yahoo Sports reported that Curry became the tournament’s all-time leading scorer in the loss. (sports.yahoo.com) The play-in is the National Basketball Association’s four-team qualifying round for the last two playoff spots in each conference. Phoenix advanced as the West’s No. 8 seed and Golden State was eliminated before the first round began. (nba.com) That result completed the play-in bracket and set the full 16-team playoff field. The official NBA live blog said the playoffs began the next day, on Saturday, April 18. (nba.com) Phoenix now moves on to face the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round. The Arizona Republic reported that Game 1 of that series was scheduled for Sunday, April 19. (azcentral.com) Golden State entered the night with a 37-45 record and had already lost once in the play-in window, falling to the Los Angeles Clippers before getting one more chance against Phoenix. The NBA’s 2026 bracket page listed the Warriors as the West’s No. 10 team and showed their season ending with this second defeat. (nba.com) The score showed how quickly Phoenix took control: the Suns led 33-15 after the first quarter and never gave up the game. ESPN’s box score shows Golden State never won a quarter by more than 13-17 in any period after that opening hole. (espn.com) By the end, the play-in produced one record for Curry and no postseason runway for the Warriors. Phoenix got the last Western Conference ticket, and Golden State’s 2025-26 season stopped in the desert. (sports.yahoo.com)
