PHOENIX — The suns vs warriors showdown arrives Friday night with the Western Conference’s eighth seed on the line, and Phoenix forward Dillon Brooks made his preference clear after Thursday’s practice. Brooks said he wanted the Warriors, pointing to Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Steve Kerr as the matchup he wanted most. The winner in downtown Phoenix advances to face the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round; the loser is done.
Brooks points to Suns Vs Warriors as the test he wanted
Brooks has history with Golden State, and that tension helps explain why he singled out the Warriors. He has tangled with Curry before, and the exchange has added edge to this suns vs warriors meeting. Still, Brooks also said he has great respect for Curry, describing the Golden State star as one of the best to ever do it and a player who has proved his greatness time and time again.
The setup leaves Phoenix with a direct challenge: slow Curry and survive a game in which one team leaves with a playoff berth and the other goes home. Suns forward Royce O’Neale said, “We know what’s at stake. ”
Curry’s latest performance raised the level of the challenge
Golden State reached this point after beating the LA Clippers on Wednesday night, with Curry scoring 27 of his 35 points in the second half to help erase a late 13-point deficit. It was just his fifth game back after missing 27 contests with knee issues, and Phoenix coach Jordan Ott said, “He looked like the same Steph Curry. ”
Ott added that Curry can appear contained before “all of a sudden the explosion happens, ” a warning that fits the scale of this suns vs warriors game. The Warriors also beat the Suns three times in four regular-season meetings, though the most recent game on Feb. 5 did not include Curry, Devin Booker or Jalen Green.
What Phoenix is bracing for next
The Suns have had little time to recover after losing their own Play-In contest to the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday. That result pushed them into Friday’s elimination game, and the pressure now falls on the home team to keep its season alive. Brooks said, “I know we’re going to be ready to play, ” a statement that captures the tone around this suns vs warriors meeting.
The game is framed by simple stakes and no margin for error. One team moves on, one team stops here, and the winner claims the final Western Conference playoff spot.
