The NBA Play-In Tournament matchup between the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors for the eighth seed is set for Friday at Mortgage Matchup Center.
Should the Suns beat the Warriors, they would play the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the NBA playoffs Sunday on the road. The series schedule would go as follows:
- Game 1: No. 8 seed at Thunder (Sunday/12:30 p.m. MST/ABC)
- Game 2: No. 8 seed at Thunder (April 22/6:30 p.m. MST/ESPN)
- Game 3: Thunder at No. 8 seed (April 25/12:30 p.m. MST/NBC)
- Game 4: Thunder at No. 8 seed (April 27/TBD/TBD)
- Game 5 (if necessary): No. 8 seed at Thunder (April 29/TBD/TBD)
- Game 6 (if necessary): Thunder at No. 8 seed (May 1/TBD/TBD)
- Game 7 (if necessary): No. 8 seed at Thunder (May 3/TBD/TBD)
The Suns look to rebound and clinch a spot in the first round of the playoffs after losing to the Portland Trail Blazers 114-110 in the play-in game for the seventh seed on Tuesday.
Phoenix is hoping to avoid becoming the first team since the Play-In Tournament started to finish the regular season in the No. 7 spot and lose both home games to miss the playoffs.
The No. 10 Golden State Warriors beat the No. 9 Los Angeles Clippers 126-121 in the second Western Conference NBA play-in game on Wednesday.
Stephen Curry was excellent for Golden State with 35 points on 7-for-12 3-point shooting. He led the Warriors back after they were down as much as 13 points, with L.A. having led for 87% of the game.
Curry dished to Al Horford for a 3 that gave Golden State the lead with 2:12 left, adding one from deep himself on the next possession to break a 117-all tie. His free throw with 32.5 seconds left made it a seven-point game to put it out of reach.
The Warriors won the season series 3-1 over the Suns.
The win-or-go-home game, which will be streamed on Prime Video, will tip off at 7 p.m. MST.
Catch tip-off on 98.7, the Arizona Sports app or online, with pregame coverage starting at 6 p.m.
