After letting a chance at advancing out of the NBA play-in tournament slip away Tuesday, the Phoenix Suns will look to bounce back in an elimination game Friday.
The Suns will host the Golden State Warriors in the play-in finale, with the winner advancing to take on the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs.
Phoenix led Portland by 11 with less than seven minutes remaining Tuesday before the Trail Blazers came back to advance into the playoffs and move the Suns to the brink of elimination.
The Suns are looking to avoid becoming the first No. 7 seed since the play-in tournament began to drop consecutive games and miss the playoff field since this format was introduced in 2021.
“We addressed it right away,” Phoenix coach Jordan Ott said of the disappointment following the loss to Portland. “The goal is get in, just get in any way possible. It’s been our goal for a while. So we’ve got to move on. Got to move on. It sucks. These are hard to take, but there’s stuff to learn in here that we’ve got to learn fast and do everything we can to get ready for Friday night.”
The Warriors, who finished 10th in the Western Conference, were on the other side of that type of game earlier this week. In their 126-121 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday that sent them into Friday’s matchup, they didn’t lead in the second half until Al Horford’s 3-pointer with 2:12 left, rallying from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit.
Golden State star Stephen Curry, who missed more than two months due to a knee injury before returning April 5, is coming off his best game since returning to action.
He had 35 points, hitting a big three in the final minute to break a tie and lift the Warriors in their play-in opener.
“There’s a reason we have four championships, and it’s the competitiveness, the heart, the will (of Curry and Draymond Green),” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s been such a tough year, but to just show what they’re made of, what we’re made of (was big).”
The Warriors won three of the four regular-season meetings between the teams, including a 101-97 win Feb. 5 in Phoenix in the most recent matchup.
Curry missed that game due to injury, but figures to be front-and-center in this one.
Suns forward Dillon Brooks said he’s looking forward to the matchup.
“The first quarter is going to really show this game, how I play,” Brooks said. “And then attacking inside.”
Brooks said the matchup against Curry made the matchup even more intriguing.
“One of the best players ever to do it,” Brooks said. “Who else do you want to go against in an elimination game?”
Curry averaged 23.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists against the Suns this season.
“This is why Steph came back,” Kerr said of Curry’s performance in the play-in opener and his rising to the occasion in big moments. “Everybody out there who thought Steph should’ve taken the rest of the year off, this is what he does. This is who he is. If he can compete, he’s going to compete.”
Ott said Grayson Allen was progressing after hurting his hamstring in the April 10 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and will be a game-time decision.
–Field Level Media
