Jordan Goodwin spent 7:04 of Friday night chasing Stephen Curry, and the Phoenix Suns got the result they needed. The Suns beat the Golden State Warriors in an elimination game, and Goodwin’s assignment on Curry was part of the reason why.
Curry finished with 17 points on 4-of-16 shooting and missed seven of his 10 tries from deep. Against Goodwin specifically, he went 1-of-6 across 33.4 possessions. Goodwin also helped tilt the game in Phoenix’s direction at the other end, scoring 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 4-of-7 from three-point range while adding nine rebounds, including four offensive boards, and six steals.
That kind of two-way swing mattered because the Suns are moving on to face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. The matchup put Goodwin back in the spotlight as the team’s point-of-attack defender, the guard asked to take the first hit on a possession and make life harder for the opponent’s best perimeter scorer. Phoenix is not built to survive on Devin Booker and Jalen Green alone, and Goodwin’s minutes on Curry showed why his role can shape a playoff game.
The performance also stood out because it came right after a rough night for Goodwin against Deni Avdija and the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday. That made Friday a sharp turnaround, and it came against a much bigger stage: Stephen Curry in an elimination game. Bright Side Of The Sun called it a master class, and that was not overstating what Goodwin did on both ends.
The question now is whether Phoenix gets the same version of him again on Sunday. If Goodwin brings that level of pressure, rebounding and steals against Oklahoma City, the Suns have a defender who can change the shape of a series before it settles into one.
