{"id":239095,"date":"2026-04-18T06:42:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T06:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/18\/end-of-an-era-question-on-champs-futures-as-warriors-among-two-knocked-out-of-nba-post-season\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T06:42:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T06:42:00","slug":"end-of-an-era-question-on-champs-futures-as-warriors-among-two-knocked-out-of-nba-post-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/18\/end-of-an-era-question-on-champs-futures-as-warriors-among-two-knocked-out-of-nba-post-season\/","title":{"rendered":"End of an era? Question on champs\u2019 futures as Warriors among two knocked out of NBA post-season"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Phoenix Suns ended the Golden State Warriors\u2019 season and the Orlando Magic thrashed the Charlotte Hornets as the NBA playoffs\u2019 final teams were decided Friday (all times US).<\/p>\n

And it could mark the end of the era for Golden State, with four-time championship coach Steve Kerr out of contract amid question marks on his future.<\/p>\n

Kerr and Warriors champions Steph Curry and Draymond Green, whose futures with the franchise also mightn\u2019t be certain, even embraced after the game in what felt like a symbolic moment.<\/p>\n

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Watch NBA with ESPN on Kayo Sports | Stream the best of the NBA Playoffs. | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Jalen Green put in a dazzling performance with 36 points, including eight triples, to secure the Western Conference No. 8 seed for Phoenix with a 111-96 win over Curry\u2019s Warriors.<\/p>\n

The Suns got off to a bright start with a 33-15 lead in the first quarter, before the Warriors cut the deficit to five points at half-time.<\/p>\n

But Phoenix kept a wasteful Golden State at arms\u2019 length, successfully limiting veteran superstar Curry to just 17 points.<\/p>\n

With barely a minute left, Jordan Goodwin intercepted a pass intended for Curry, and scored a transition bucket, before adding a three on Phoenix\u2019s next possession to secure the win.<\/p>\n

Victory set up a first-round playoff clash for Phoenix with Oklahoma City Thunder, the defending NBA champions.<\/p>\n

\u201cHappy as hell. We came out fire, we knew this was a do-or-die game,\u201d said Green, who added six rebounds and four assists.<\/p>\n

For the injury-plagued and ageing Warriors, who won the NBA title in 2022, it was a disappointing end to a third consecutive season in the play-in tournament, crashing out before the playoffs as they did in 2024.<\/p>\n

In fiery late scenes, two Warriors players \u2014 Green and Devin Booker \u2014 were ejected from the court, with Green continuing to taunt the home Phoenix fans as he departed.<\/p>\n

MAGIC KNOCK OUT HORNETS<\/b><\/p>\n

Orlando beat the Hornets 121-90 to keep their season alive and set up a daunting first-round playoff series for the Magic against the Eastern Conference top-seeded Detroit Pistons.<\/p>\n

Paolo Banchero topscored with 25 points in Orlando\u2019s last chance to qualify for the post-season via the play-in tournament, having failed at their first attempt against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

A physical, tough Magic outfit outmuscled the youthful Hornets from the tip-off of the win-or-go-home game in front of a sellout 19,000 home crowd at Orlando\u2019s Kia Canter.<\/p>\n

Banchero bulldozed Charlotte\u2019s defence, scoring 12 in the first quarter alone. Having never trailed by more than a single point, Orlando soon stretched comfortably clear, establishing a giant 35-point lead shortly before half-time.<\/p>\n

Recovering from a sluggish start, LaMelo Bell — the hero of the Hornets\u2019 first play-in game against Miami on Tuesday — exploded after the break.<\/p>\n

He poured in 21 points in the third quarter alone as he tried to single-handedly extend Charlotte\u2019s season.<\/p>\n

But Orlando\u2019s lead never dipped below 20 points, as the Magic eased to a win against a Charlotte side that had finished the regular season in strong form.<\/p>\n

Victory ensured the Magic have reached the playoffs for the third straight season, while the Hornets\u2019 decade-long wait goes on.<\/p>\n

The NBA playoffs begin Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Phoenix Suns ended the Golden State Warriors\u2019 season and the Orlando Magic thrashed the Charlotte Hornets as the NBA playoffs\u2019 final teams were decided Friday (all times US). And it could mark the end of the era for Golden State, with four-time championship coach Steve Kerr out of contract amid question marks on his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":239096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[1800,3191,72018,2837,3070,1788,8188,72021,13690,2061,72017,2504,2935,1679,2172,1533,1809,2354,4433,1977,1645,6309,2090,12139,1606,4568,8366,72019,1792,72020],"class_list":{"0":"post-239095","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-charlotte-hornets","10":"tag-defeat-golden-state","11":"tag-detroit-pistons","12":"tag-draymond-green","13":"tag-espn-inc","14":"tag-final-teams","15":"tag-first-round-playoff","16":"tag-first-round-playoff-series","17":"tag-florida","18":"tag-four-time-championship-coach","19":"tag-fox-basketball","21":"tag-home-crowd","22":"tag-miami","23":"tag-north-america","24":"tag-northern-america","25":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","26":"tag-orlando","27":"tag-orlando-magic","28":"tag-phoenix-suns","29":"tag-play-in-game","30":"tag-play-in-tournament","31":"tag-question-marks","32":"tag-regular-season","33":"tag-steph-curry","34":"tag-steve-kerr","35":"tag-transition-bucket","36":"tag-united-states-of-america","37":"tag-veteran-superstar"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}