Warriors at Suns Friday Elimination Play-In Game Thread, 4-17-2026

BooksOrangePlanet

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the 7th seed suns will host the 10th seed warriors this friday at 7:00 in phoenix - winner advances to the playoffs and will face the #1 seed oklahoma thunder

location: mortgage matchup center, phoenix

when: friday, april 17th, 2026

television: amazon prime

time: 7:00 pm arizona time
 

Mainstreet

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Two teams going different directions?

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Cheesebeef

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I think we beat the Warriors. They’re so beat up and old and it’s a quick turnaround.
 

JosiahLee

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Man, idk. Logically, nothing really tells me we will win this game. High pressure games like this come down to execution under pressure. The Warriors have such championship pedigree, it’s in their dna. Very likely Steph drops like 15+ in the 4th to help the Warriors pull away.
 

Yuma

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I haerd this on the radio yesterday. If anyone can find the whole clip, Gambo goes on much longer than this. He's basically that Booker is not taking over games like any of the other stars do at the end of games. Gambo is like, score. We need you to score. He thinks Booker is a good number two guy. Dave Burns is like, and the Suns built around a number two guy? I do think they were right that we need 2022 Booker who can carry a team in the playoffs. I think they are wrong in that Booker was a top ten scorer in the whole league this year, and many kept saying he had a down year!

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TJ

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I haerd this on the radio yesterday. If anyone can find the whole clip, Gambo goes on much longer than this. He's basically that Booker is not taking over games like any of the other stars do at the end of games. Gambo is like, score. We need you to score. He thinks Booker is a good number two guy. Dave Burns is like, and the Suns built around a number two guy? I do think they were right that we need 2022 Booker who can carry a team in the playoffs. I think they are wrong in that Booker was a top ten scorer in the whole league this year, and many kept saying he had a down year!

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Im glad that the local media is finally addressing what real ones have known for a while in that Book is not the killer that people have thought him to be. I honestly would rather have traded him before the season and have assets for the future than being in a play-in game for the right to get slaughtered by OKC.
 

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BooksOrangePlanet

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the warriors have steph curry - it's the playoffs - if we're not up by a ton at the end curry can kill us in a matter of minutes

the suns need to prepare for the likely - like the warriors attacking our paint for the first 3 quarters trying to stay in the game - like the warriors trying to shut book down in the 4th quarter while curry goes off igniting the whole team

but that's all whiteboard talk - no telling how the game unfolds - im a pattern guy and the suns suck in the 4th quarter - and that's when games are obviously decided

this doesn't bode well for us - not with all the shooting slumps - not with our lack of interior defense - what can draymond do when he's the tallest dude on the court?

can jalen finally keep the offense functioning when book sits? if not - can gillespie and the bench do like they used to? getting by on defense?

book's been playing the entire 1st quarter - we used to rest him until there's 6 or 7 minutes left in the 2nd quarter - he comes in fresh and gets another break at halftime

not recently tho - he comes in with 9 minutes left - doesn't sound like a lot but it is especially the game's going at a fast pace - we've been doing the same thing in the 2nd half too - we need to be successful or atleast tread water when book is off the court

also while he's on the court - our wings have to hit their 3s - not dillon and jalen - they need to penetrate and hit mid ranges - we need our so called top shelf 3 pt snipers to go the hell off - it's the ****ing playoffs - wth

and lastly - jordan ott - if we're losing or if it's extremely tight - will he finally go big? the answer is no imo - not with steph curry on the floor

steph played out of his mind against the clippers in the 4th quarter but he also went over his minutes restriction - he wasn't just posted up knocking down easy 3s - he was doing the reggie miller thing - never stopped moving

we need to A) know there is no minutes restriction for steph and B) wear his ass out from the jump - give him the grayson allen treatment - don't let him go 5 feet without getting bumped - don't let him stand relaxed in between plays - legally lean on him like you're establishing position

no predictions
 

Superbone

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I think we beat the Warriors. They’re so beat up and old and it’s a quick turnaround.
I'm not sure how you can have that confidence the way we've ended the season and 4th quarters and the magical way the Warriors turned back the clock last night.
 
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BooksOrangePlanet

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mark williams and collin gillespie - they won't just be playing they'll be negotiating for new contracts through their play

both had an amazing start to the season - both come with their issues - williams didn't last the season due to a pre existing condition which cost the suns games - perhaps a higher seeding position

collin gillespie made his bones early in the season - lights out play - clutch af - but he fell off when jalen arrived - because the more aggressive dawg always gets the tit and runts often go without

don't get me wrong - gillespie is a dawg and williams is too but we weren't able to depend on them in the most crucial game of this new team's history

gillespie went 1-3 from 3 with 0 assists and he can't stop guys from backing him down

williams (4 pts 4 boards) only played 22 minutes - had 3 blocks in that short time but once again we didn't see mark williams in at the end

is that the tape they want their agents to play while asking for big bucks?

gillespie needs to relentlessly fight for the tit - williams needs sprint up and down the center of the court like hussain bolt with his hands up the whole time

if gillespie posts back to back no shows in the play-in i don't see him being here next year unless we plan on dealing jalen green - and why would we do that (sorry @Phrazbit )

if ott's going to give oso more munutes than williams in a post season game ... if oso is on a rookie contract and played all 82 games - and if were going to play maluach a malu-lot why would we pay williams big money to stay?

if i was either of these guys i'd be worried and motivated
 
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JosiahLee

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Seems unlikely Jalen Green is dropping 35 again. Not sure how we stay in this game unless Booker decides to show up and score 30 + himself. Although what’s the status of Grayson Allen? He would be a huge boost to the lineup.

I hope we see some different rotations tomorrow.
 

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I'd be surprised if Grayson DIDN'T play in this game. He would be a boost, but definitely not enough to cover Book's slump.

Dillon getting off to a quicker start would help as well. But still confused as all hell why Mark Williams didn't play in the 4th quarter. That makes no sense, although I think it was interesting that Ott used Dunn in that Blazer game. Most here were thinking he wouldn't be in the rotation, even with his strong performance in the final regular season game. So Ott is doing SOME adapting, just not the right ones.
 
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BooksOrangePlanet

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I'd be surprised if Grayson DIDN'T play in this game. He would be a boost, but definitely not enough to cover Book's slump.

Dillon getting off to a quicker start would help as well. But still confused as all hell why Mark Williams didn't play in the 4th quarter. That makes no sense, although I think it was interesting that Ott used Dunn in that Blazer game. Most here were thinking he wouldn't be in the rotation, even with his strong performance in the final regular season game. So Ott is doing SOME adapting, just not the right ones.
my man dunn had 4 boards in 9 minutes - williams had 4 boards in 22 minutes

williams also didn't get back on defense a few times - last one led to a timeott i think?
 

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my man dunn had 4 boards in 9 minutes - williams had 4 boards in 22 minutes

williams also didn't get back on defense a few times - last one led to a timeott i think?
And we f'n lost. I know you're trying to explain why Mark Williams didn't play in the 4th quarter, but that is weak, especially since you didn't even mention Oso and his ineffectiveness in the 4th.
 

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The Suns play their best when they have quick help defense when a player drives in the lane. It resembles a fast double team.

I usually see this in the first quarter but then it slows down later in the game to where it becomes almost non-existent.

The only way the Suns can do this for a whole game is depth. They'd have to go deeper into the bench but it's about time Ott uses this strategy for a whole game. Actually, this is what I thought they promised to do before the season started... press... press... press.

Opponents have discovered the Suns can't defend without doing this. I'm skeptical this would work on the Warriors but why not. Nothing else is working. They should have done this against the Trail Blazers.
 
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BooksOrangePlanet

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And we f'n lost. I know you're trying to explain why Mark Williams didn't play in the 4th quarter, but that is weak, especially since you didn't even mention Oso and his ineffectiveness in the 4th.
i think williams should have played in the 4th - dunn too - for some reason ott just loves oso and 4 guards (we can call them forwards but khaman)
 

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If anyone can really strategize and make Oso look like he's non existent its Kerr and Green.
 

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Jordan Ott said Grayson Allen (hamstring) made progress, but it's a matter of can he sprint.

Will likely be a game-time decision tomorrow vs Warriors. #Suns #DubNation
 
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