There is no margin for error in a Play-In elimination game. The team that goes home Friday night at the Mortgage Matchup Center does not get another chance. That is the setting as the Golden State Warriors (37-45, 10th seed) travel to Phoenix to face the Suns (45-37, 7th seed), a winner-take-all clash for the Western Conference’s final playoff spot.
The game charts for this matchup shot charts, team comparisons, lead tracking, and quarter-by-quarter scoring data are the clearest lens through which to understand what is actually happening on the floor. This breakdown covers all of that: the verified stats heading into tip-off, the key individual battles, and what the numbers reveal about each team’s real strengths and weaknesses in 2026.
For a full preview of this elimination clash, read more about the Suns vs Warriors Play-In matchup here.
Box Score & Quarter-by-Quarter Data
This section will be updated with live and final game data as the April 17 game progresses. All pre-game season statistics below are sourced from NBA.com, ESPN, and Basketball-Reference.
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final | |
| Golden State Warriors | — | — | — | — | — |
| Phoenix Suns | — | — | — | — | — |
Series record (2025-26 regular season): Golden State leads 3-1 ESPN win probability heading into tip-off: PHX 63.6% / GSW 36.4% Vegas spread: Phoenix -3.5
What the Game Charts Tell Us About Both Teams
Game charts track more than final scores. Shot charts reveal where each team creates and concedes points. Lead tracking charts show which team controls momentum and when. Team comparison data exposes the statistical edges that coaching staffs exploit in real time.
For this particular matchup, three chart categories stand out: shooting efficiency from three-point range, fourth-quarter performance, and turnover-to-scoring differential. All three tell a complicated story for both teams.
Phoenix ranked in the top five in the entire league in three-pointers made this season, logging 14.8 per game, a total only matched by the Boston Celtics among teams also finishing top-10 in defense (112.9 points allowed per game), per NBA.com. On their home floor, the Suns have been even stingier, allowing just 108.5 points per game at the Mortgage Matchup Center.
Golden State, meanwhile, entered this game as one of the worst offenses since the All-Star break, averaging 112.7 points per game over an 8-19 stretch, 27th in the NBA. Phoenix’s numbers in that same period were barely better at 110.5 points per game (28th). The shot charts for both teams in the second half of the season reflect two offenses searching for consistency at exactly the wrong moment.
What breaks the tie? The player on the floor who changes games by himself. And right now, that player is Stephen Curry.
Stephen Curry’s Clippers Performance: What the Shot Chart Shows
Two days before facing Phoenix, Curry delivered what may be the defining performance of his 17th NBA season. Against the LA Clippers in the 9-10 Play-In game at Intuit Dome, he finished with 35 points (12-of-23 from the field, 7-of-12 from three) in just 36 minutes. Golden State erased a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter their largest comeback and highest fourth-quarter scoring output (43 points) since March 31, 2023 to win 126-121, per ESPN Insights.
Curry’s shot chart from that game shows his usual pattern, with heavy volume from deep and a clear second-half surge. You may also visit here for a closer look at the full breakdown. He scored 27 of his 35 points in the third and fourth quarters, while Al Horford added four three-pointers in the final frame, Kristaps Porzingis contributed 20 points, and Draymond Green delivered the late defensive stop on Kawhi Leonard that sealed the win.
Steve Kerr did not hide his emotions afterward. “There’s a reason we have four championships, and it’s the competitiveness, the heart, the will of Curry and Draymond Green,” Kerr told reporters. “It’s been such a tough year, but to just show what they’re made of, what we’re made of, this one is right up there.”
Curry’s 2025-26 regular season numbers (43 games, per Basketball-Reference):
- 26.6 points per game
- 46.8% field goal percentage
- 39.3% from three-point range
- 4.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds per game
Devin Booker: The Shot Chart Contradiction
Devin Booker is one of the most efficient scorers in the Western Conference this season. His season averages 26.1 points per game on 45.6% shooting from the field and 87.3% from the free throw line rank him inside the top 10 scorers in the league. He has reached 18,000 career points this season, becoming just the third-youngest shooting guard in NBA history to hit that milestone, behind only Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, per Suns game notes.
Yet his shot chart contains a telling gap: Booker has averaged just 5.0 points per game in the fourth quarter this season, which ranks 35th in the entire league, per bet365 News. In the Suns’ Play-In loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday a game Phoenix led by 11 points with less than seven minutes remaining before collapsing 110-114 Booker finished with 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting. Phoenix also missed five free throws in that fourth quarter.
His record against the Warriors specifically is strong at a season level he has scored 38 points twice against Golden State in 2025-26 and has outscored Curry in all three head-to-head matchups between these teams this season, per bet365. But Curry was absent from the February 5 meeting (injury), and Booker’s ability to close out tight games remains the central question heading into Friday.
Booker’s 2025-26 key stats (source: ESPN, NBA.com):
- 26.1 ppg | 45.6 FG% | 87.3 FT% | 6.0 apg
- 5.0 ppg in Q4 (35th in NBA)
- 38 points in two separate regular-season meetings with Golden State this year
Jalen Green: The X-Factor the Shot Charts Reveal
One player entirely underrepresented in pre-game discussion is Jalen Green. The Suns wing returned from a knee injury and immediately became their most dangerous offensive weapon in the Play-In opener against Portland finishing with 35 points. He has now scored 20 or more points in 15 of his last 21 games, per Yahoo Sports.
Green represents a matchup problem Golden State’s defense struggled to contain late in the season. If Booker draws the most defensive attention from the Warriors’ scheme, Green’s shot chart heavy on pull-up threes and drives to the basket becomes the primary source of secondary scoring for Phoenix.
Head-to-Head History: What the Trend Lines Show
2025-26 regular season: Golden State Warriors 3-1
The most relevant data for this matchup is recent. The Warriors won three of four regular-season meetings against Phoenix this year, including a 101-97 road win on February 5 in Phoenix a game in which Curry was out with an injury and neither Jimmy Butler nor Seth Curry suited up for the Suns, per Covers. Despite the absences on both sides, Golden State’s execution in that game confirmed their structural ability to compete with Phoenix’s defense.
The one Phoenix win came December 18, a 99-98 home result in which the Suns held Curry to 2-of-9 from three-point range, per NBA.com’s Starting 5 breakdown. That game reflects Phoenix’s defensive ceiling when their perimeter scheme disrupts Curry’s rhythm early, the Warriors have no reliable backup scoring creator.
Curry’s record vs Suns in the last 8 meetings: Has not scored 30 or more points in any of them, per bet365.
Playoffs all-time: Suns lead 11-4 in wins across three playoff series. However, the Warriors beat Phoenix in the 2022 Western Conference Semifinals, the most recent playoff meeting between these franchises.
Dillon Brooks vs. Curry: The Individual Battle Inside the Charts
Dillon Brooks, now a Suns forward, is the defensive assignment most likely to determine Golden State’s offensive efficiency on Friday. Brooks has a well-documented competitive history with Curry he has consistently applied physical pressure on the perimeter, and his willingness to absorb the contact that comes with that assignment sets the tone for Phoenix’s defensive structure.
The shot chart data from games in which Curry faces heavy perimeter harassment shows a meaningful drop in his three-point volume. When Brooks successfully limits Curry to mid-range pull-ups rather than catch-and-shoot looks from deep, the entire Warriors offensive shot chart compresses.
Brooks was direct about the matchup in pre-game availability. “The first quarter is going to really show this game, how I play,” he told reporters, per Covers. “And then attacking inside.” He added that the Curry matchup made the game even more intriguing for him personally.
Team Comparison: The Stats That Matter Most Tonight
| Stat | Golden State | Phoenix | Edge |
| Record | 37-45 | 45-37 | PHX |
| Away/Home record | 15-26 away | 25-16 home | PHX |
| Points allowed at venue | — | 108.5 ppg | PHX |
| 3-pointers made per game | — | 14.8 (top 5) | PHX |
| Scoring since All-Star break | 112.7 ppg (27th) | 110.5 ppg (28th) | Even |
| Regular season H2H | 3-1 | — | GSW |
| Win prob (ESPN Analytics) | 36.4% | 63.6% | PHX |
The numbers favor Phoenix on paper. But the one variable that overrides aggregate stats in single-elimination basketball is the presence of a player who resets games. Curry is that player for Golden State.
Injury Report
Golden State Warriors:
- Kristaps Porzingis – Questionable (right ankle soreness)
Phoenix Suns:
- Mark Williams – Questionable (left foot soreness)
- Grayson Allen – Questionable (per FOX Sports)
The Phoenix Suns face the Golden State Warriors in a win-or-go-home play-in matchup and now see how Phoenix Suns eliminates the Golden State Warriors in 2026 NBA Play-In to reach playoffs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do the Warriors vs Suns game charts show for April 17, 2026?
The NBA.com game charts page tracks shot charts, team comparisons, and lead tracking for this Play-In elimination game. The pre-game data shows Phoenix with a home-court defensive advantage (108.5 ppg allowed at Mortgage Matchup Center) and Golden State with a 3-1 season series edge and Stephen Curry coming off 35 points vs the Clippers.
Who is favored in Warriors vs Suns in the 2026 Play-In?
Phoenix is favored at -3.5, with ESPN Analytics giving the Suns a 63.6% win probability heading into tip-off. The Suns hold the better regular-season record (45-37 vs 37-45) and home-court advantage. However, Golden State won three of four regular-season matchups between these teams in 2025-26.
What are Stephen Curry’s stats vs Phoenix Suns in 2025-26?
Curry missed the February 5 matchup due to injury. In the three games he played against Phoenix this season, Booker outscored him in each, per bet365. Curry has not scored 30 or more points in any of his last eight meetings against the Suns. However, he scored 35 points against the Clippers in the Play-In opener two days prior.
What happened in the Suns’ previous Play-In game?
Phoenix lost to the Portland Trail Blazers 110-114 on Tuesday, blowing an 11-point lead with less than seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. Booker scored 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting and the team missed five free throws in the final minutes. A loss to Golden State on Friday would eliminate the Suns and make them the first No. 7 seed to drop consecutive Play-In games since the format began in 2021.
What channel is Warriors vs Suns on?
The April 17, 2026 Play-In game between Golden State and Phoenix airs on Prime Video at 10 PM ET.
Who does the winner of Warriors vs Suns play?
The winner earns the Western Conference’s No. 8 seed and plays the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs. Game 1 is scheduled for Sunday, per NBA.com.