Jalen Green Powers Suns Past Warriors, Into Playoffs

Jalen Green scored 36 points to lead the Phoenix Suns to a 111-96 victory over the Golden State Warriors in the final Western Conference play-in game Friday night at Mortgage Matchup Center.

This was a revenge game for Green, who struggled mightily with the Houston Rockets last season when they were upset by the then-No. 7 Warriors in the first round.

Phoenix, who was the seventh seed in the West to close out the year but lost to the Portland Trail Blazers Tuesday in the first play-in matchup, now advances to the playoffs as the No. 8 seed to play the No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round with Game 1 in OKC scheduled to tip off at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

The Warriors' season is officially over with the loss.

The Suns needed all they could get from Green, who also had six rebounds and four assists, with Booker (20 points, eight assists, six rebounds) struggling before the final period, Brooks (13 points) only shooting 4-for-14 from the field and Mark Williams out with left foot soreness.

Jordan Goodwin (19 points, nine rebounds and six steals) also did a terrific job guarding Stephen Curry, limiting him to just 17 points on 4-of-16 shooting.

Here's a recap of the action:

First Quarter

The Suns went up 13-2 with 8:23 to go in the first after three early 3-pointers and four Golden State turnovers, three of which were steals by Goodwin.

Golden State then cut the lead to four, but the Suns responded with a 10-0 run to go up 25-11 with 3:49 left.

At the end of the first, Phoenix built the lead to 33-15, holding the Warriors to 6-for-20 (30%) shooting from the field, 1-for-9 (11.1%) 3-point shooting and forced eight turnovers, while the Suns shot 11-for-21 (52.4%) and 6-for-15 (40%) from 3.

With Williams out, Suns rookie Khaman Maluach played four impact minutes in the first, making his presence felt defensively.

Second Quarter

Golden State went on a 12-2 run to start the second before Green had a monster fastbreak dunk with 6:39 remaining in the half.

Phoenix then started to see success with an ultra-small lineup of Booker, Green, Goodwin, Haywood Highsmith and Brooks as Ott showed a willingness to go deeper into the bench.

The Warriors responded quickly and all of a sudden it was a five-point game, 43-38, with just under three minutes to go.

Golden State made it a one-possession game, but then a Green 3-pointer just before the buzzer put Phoenix up 50-45 heading into halftime.

The numbers completely flipped from the first quarter, as Golden State shot 11-for-21 from the field in the second, and Phoenix was 5-for-20 (25%) overall and 2-for-11 (18.2%) from deep in the period.

Green led Phoenix with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while the Suns held Curry to seven points on just six field-goal attempts.

Third Quarter

Booker picked up his fourth foul with 8:31 left in the third, but stayed in the game.

Phoenix then hit two-straight 3-pointers to build its lead to 64-53 with 7:52 remaining in the period.

The Suns then extended this to a 69-53 advantage with 5:12 to go before a Warriors response.

Green continued to stay hot and hit several timely 3-pointers to keep Phoenix in front.

At the end of the third quarter, Green had 27 points as Phoenix led 78-69 despite Booker only shooting 3-for-10 from the floor at this point and Brooks at 4-for-12 on field goals.

Curry still only had seven points through three quarters, going 0-for-3 from the field in the third.

Fourth Quarter

Despite an early 3-pointer by Curry, the Suns were up 13 with 10 minutes to go before the Warriors hit two-straight threes.

However, Green answered with a personal 7-0 run to give the Suns a 92-78 lead with 7:15 left.

Unlike other games, the Suns were able to keep their foot on the gas, as Booker got two big shots to fall.

With two minutes to go, Phoenix was up 105-90 with the Warriors continuing to struggle to get anything to fall.

There was some drama in the final minute with Draymond Green and Booker both picking up two technical fouls and getting ejected, but the game was long over.

At the end of the game, the Suns pulled off a 111-96 victory to end the Warriors season.