Latest / The Sports Hangover Daily / Jalen Green Torches Warriors as a Dynasty Dies | Apr 18, 2026
Transcript
- Jalen Green just dropped thirty-six points on fourteen of twenty shooting with EIGHT threes — and somehow the biggest moment of the night was Draymond getting ejected by Scott Foster with sixty-four seconds left. You can't make this stuff up. Welcome to The Sports Hangover Daily, I'm Michael Benatar. Alright, let's talk about what happened in Phoenix last night, because it might be the end of an era. The Suns beat the Warriors one eleven to ninety-six in the play-in to grab the eight seed out West. And look — the final score doesn't even tell you how lopsided this was. Phoenix jumped out to a thirteen to two lead and Golden State never recovered. Jalen Green was unconscious. Thirty-six points, fourteen of twenty from the field, eight threes, six boards, four assists, three blocks, two steals. That is a video game stat line. Jordan Goodwin added nineteen points on seven of eleven and had SIX steals guarding Steph Curry, who went four of sixteen. Four of sixteen. Steph had four assists and four turnovers. That's not the Steph Curry experience anyone paid to see. And then with about a minute left, Draymond Green and Devin Booker got into it — Scott Foster tossed them both — and Draymond walked off the court possibly for the last time in a Warriors uniform. Steve Kerr told Steph and Draymond in those final seconds, quote, "I don't know what's going to happen next, but I love you guys to death. Thank you." I mean — that hit me. Kerr said postgame that coaching jobs have expiration dates, and when the run ends, sometimes it's time for new blood. The Warriors went thirty-seven and forty-five this season. Jimmy Butler tore his ACL in January. Steph missed twenty-seven games with a knee issue. It just fell apart. Steph says he wants to play multiple more seasons and wants an extension. But Kerr coaching somewhere else next year? That feels real. And honestly, it should probably happen. Four titles together. Nothing left to prove. Sometimes the kindest thing is a clean break. In the other play-in game, Orlando handled Charlotte with zero drama. Magic won one twenty-one to ninety. Paolo Banchero had twenty-five, five boards, six assists, and all five Orlando starters scored in double figures. LaMelo Ball had twenty-three for the Hornets but it didn't matter — Charlotte was shooting thirty-one percent at halftime and the Magic led by thirty-one at the break. Orlando now gets Detroit in the first round. Good luck with that. Now — the NBA playoffs officially tip off TODAY. Four games on the schedule. Toronto at Cleveland at one, Minnesota at Denver at three thirty, Atlanta at New York at six, and the one I'm most excited about — Houston at the Lakers at eight thirty on ABC. LeBron versus KD in the postseason again. They've met three times in the playoffs and every single time it's been a show. Kevin Durant did have a right knee contusion in practice this week, but Houston says he's good to go. I'll believe it when I see him moving in the first quarter. Over in the NHL, the Stanley Cup Playoffs also start today, and there's a fascinating storyline baked in — the back-to-back champion Florida Panthers missed the playoffs entirely. So we're getting a new champ no matter what. Before puck drop, the league handed out some hardware. Connor McDavid won his sixth Art Ross Trophy, tying Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux for second all-time behind Gretzky's ten. Nathan MacKinnon took home the Rocket Richard with fifty-three goals — his first time leading the league in goals. And Colorado's goalie tandem of Wedgewood and Blackwood won the Jennings Trophy after the Avalanche allowed just two hundred and three goals all season. That Avs team went fifty-five, sixteen, and eleven. They're a wagon. And real quick on the NFL — we are five days out from the draft in Pittsburgh. The Raiders are locked in on Fernando Mendoza at number one. The Cowboys are reportedly the most likely team to trade up, targeting Rueben Bain Jr. or Sonny Styles. Aaron Rodgers is apparently fifty-fifty on coming back to Pittsburgh, which — can we just get an answer already? And Nick Foles dropped this gem on his podcast yesterday about A.J. Brown, quote, "What I have gathered is he wants to be traded, but I also think he wants to be traded to specific places." Most people believe it's eventually going to be the Patriots. It's just a matter of when. Alright, here's my Hangover Take. I think the Suns are going to steal a game from Oklahoma City in the first round, and I think Jalen Green is the reason nobody wants to play Phoenix right now. This is a guy who was written off as a bust like two years ago. He's averaging efficient buckets, he's defending, he's making plays — and he just torched a team with Steph Curry and Draymond Green on it like they were a summer league squad. OKC is the defending champ and the one seed, yeah. But they're also a young team that hasn't had to deal with a hot scorer like Green in a seven-game series. Phoenix has Booker, they have guys who've been in big moments, and they've got a dude who looks like he's playing with house money. I'm not saying the Suns win the series. I'm saying don't be shocked if Game one is a lot closer than Vegas thinks. That's your hangover. Go hydrate. I'll see you tomorrow.