PHOENIX (AP) — Jalen Green scored 36 points, Devin Booker added 20 and the Phoenix Suns locked down Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, winning 111-96 in the NBA’s play-in tournament Friday night.
The Suns took the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs and will face the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday in Game 1. The Warriors’ season is over.
Green shot 14 of 20 from the field, including 8 of 14 on 3-pointers. Jordan Goodwin scored 19 points, had nine rebounds and was a menace on defense with six steals.
Booker and Golden State’s Draymond Green were both assessed two technical fouls late in the fourth quarter after exchanging words multiple times and were ejected.
The 38-year-old Curry couldn’t get many clean looks and finished with 17 points on 4-of-16 shooting. Brandin Podziemski led the Warriors with 23 points.
Phoenix led by five at the break and built a 69-53 advantage with 5:12 left in third after a fast-break layup by Royce O’Neale. It was 85-72 with 10:12 remaining.
MAGIC 121, HORNETS 90
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Paolo Banchero scored 25 points and Orlando built a 35-point lead in the first half on the way to a rout of Charlotte in a play-in tournament game and advanced to a first-round playoff matchup against the Detroit Pistons.
The Magic earned the No. 8 seed in playoffs and will start their best-of-seven series at Detroit on Sunday.
LaMelo Ball scored 21 of his 23 points in the third quarter for Charlotte.
Banchero had 12 points and Wendell Carter Jr. added 10 as the Hornets shot 5 for 20 with six turnovers in the first quarter and fell behind 38-16.
Ball was scoreless with two turnovers when he went to the bench with three fouls with 7:10 left in the first half. He did not score until Orlando’s lead had reached 35 points in the final seconds of the half.
The Magic were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in each of the last two postseasons and have not won a playoff round since 2010.
The Hornets, who beat the Magic in their last three regular-season games, have not been in the playoffs since 2016.
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