Klay Thompson’s shooting touch seems playoff-ready.

The Golden State guard scored 22 of his 34 points in the first quarter and the Warriors beat Phoenix for the 15th consecutive time Glover Quin Jersey , 117-100 on Sunday night in the final home game of the Suns‘ awful season.

”It was good to get into a good rhythm, especially with a game left in the season,” Thompson said. ”You want to have some great momentum going into this playoff stretch.”

Kevin Durant added 17 points and nine assists for the Warriors, whose winning streak against Phoenix is a franchise record for a single opponent.

With the loss, and Memphis’ win over Detroit, Phoenix – at 20-61 – is assured the worst record in the NBA and, consequently, the most ping pong balls in the May 15 draft lottery.

Danuel House scored a career-high 22 points for Phoenix. Alex Len added 16 points and 10 rebounds, Dragan Bender 14 points and 14 boards, and Tyler Ulis 15 points and 10 assists.

The Warriors, who had lost two in a row and five of their previous eight, were already locked in to the No. 2 playoff spot in the Western Conference and working to get healthy for the playoffs, but still had Durant, Thompson and Draymond Green in the lineup against the severely depleted Suns.

Phoenix was without Devin Booker (right hand sprain), T.J. Warren (left knee inflammation), Josh Jackson (right quad contusion), Marquese Chriss (hip soreness) Danny Trevathan Jersey , Elfrid Payton (left knee) and Alan Williams (right knee soreness). Troy Daniels tried to play despite a sprained ankle but sat out the second half.

Golden State didn’t have Stephen Curry, still recovering from left MCL sprain, Andre Iguodola (left knee soreness) and Patrick McCaw (lumbar spine contusion).

The goal these last couple of games is to avoid any further health issues, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

”But that is more luck of the draw than anything,” he said. ”I am glad we got through this game in a good way health-wise and did some good things and one more to go.”

Thompson scored 19 consecutive Warriors points in the first quarter, going 9 for 11 from the field and 4 for 6 on 3s in the period.

”That was a scorching first quarter,” Kerr said. ”That was fun to watch. He had the arena pretty excited too every time he went up for a shot. He had it rolling.”

But Golden State led only 33-29 after one.

The Warriors stretched the lead in the second quarter. Durant scored on a 3-pointer – his first field goal of the game – and added a driving layup to put the Warriors up 55-41. Golden State led by as many as 18 in the second quarter and were up 64-50 at the break.

The Suns never seriously challenged after that.

”These are the dog days right now,” Phoenix interim coach Jay Triano said. ”You can see with the number of guys we’ve got banged up. A lot of guys can’t make it through (82 games). Teams that are going into the playoffs are going through the same things.”

SUNKEN SUNS

Phoenix has won twice – in 28 games – since Jan. 31 and is guaranteed to finish no better than 21-61, the second-worst record in the franchise’s 50-year history. Only the 1968-69 mark of 16-66 was worse.

The past three seasons, the Suns have won 23, 24 and 20 games. Highly competitive in the Steve Nash era, they will miss the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season.

Phoenix has lost 31 of its last 34. The Suns have a 25 percent chance of securing the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

TIP-INS

Warriors: It was the eighth time that Thompson has scored at least 20 in a quarter. … Durant didn’t score a point until he made one of two free throws with 6:27 left in the half. … Warriors last loss to the Suns on Nov. 9, 2014 in Phoenix. … Warriors have won in Phoenix the last seven tries. … With the win, Golden State is 10-4 in the second half of back-to-backs this season.

Suns: This was the 34th different starting lineup Phoenix has used this season. … Booker has missed the last 11 games but has not been declared out of the Tuesday night season finale. … Jackson was hurt in the team’s loss to New Orleans on Friday night.

UP NEXT

Warriors: At Utah on Tuesday night in regular-season finale.

Suns: At Dallas on Tuesday night in last game of season.
After missing the playoffs for the first time in eight years, the New York Rangers are going all in on a makeover.

Several star players were jettisoned at the trade deadline for youngsters and draft picks, there’s tough decisions to be made with free agents, and they’re seeking a new coach to lead the way.

”We all know there’s going to be some changes during the summer Michael Roberts Jersey ,” veteran goalie Henrik Lundqvist said.

”Part of me is a little excited about what’s ahead. I hope we take some good steps in the right direction. … Whoever is going to be here, we are going to compete and be sure to have a better year.”

After a slow start to the season, the Rangers picked up their play but injuries to key players such as Chris Kreider, Kevin Shattenkirk, Kevin Hayes, Marc Staal and Mika Zibanejad hampered their ability to gain some consistency.

Then, the retooling became a certainty in early February when general manager Jeff Gorton announced the team’s moves at the trade deadline would be with an eye to the future and not to save the season.

Weeks later, Michael Grabner was dealt to New Jersey, Rick Nash to Boston, and J.T. Miller and captain Ryan McDonagh to Tampa Bay – with all going to teams that are in the playoffs.

The Rangers closed the season losing eight of their final 10 and finished last in the Metropolitan Division – 20 points behind the Devils and Columbus Blue Jackets, for the two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference.

”It’s been a tough season for everyone – fans, players, the whole team organization,” said Mats Zuccarello, whose first year in the NHL was right after the Rangers last missed the playoffs in 2010.

”I’ve never been in this situation before. It’s been a tough season mentally, lost a lot of good friends, but at the end of the day right now it’s over.”

The lost season and resulting pivot to a youth movement cost coach Alain Vigneault his job when he was fired hours after a season-ending 5-0 loss at Philadelphia last Saturday night. The Rangers went 226-147-37 in five years under Vigneault Karl Mecklenburg Jersey , with a run to the Stanley Cup Final in his first season in 2013-14.

”We understand we didn’t get the job done,” Lundqvist said. ”When that happens, changes are going to happen. We had players leave, now coaches leave. We hoped and we expected more at the start of the season. Things happened along the way. … We were just not able to recover and changes were made and it was a tough stretch after that.”

Gorton said he expects to interview five to 10 candidates for the head coach vacancy, and will consider anyone with coaching experience at any level.

”We’re looking for somebody with a progressive mind, that’s thinking the game, that’s watching the game and seeing what’s going to happen next,” he said. ”Just a good person, a good leader, somebody we can work with and develop young players.”

Some other things to know as the Rangers head into the offseason:

YOUTH MOVEMENT

The moves at the trade deadline gave the team a chance to look at some younger players.

Ryan Spooner, acquired from Boston in the deal for Nash, made the biggest impact with four goals and 12 assists in 20 games – nearly matching his production with the Bruins (nine goals, 16 assists).

Teenage first-round picks Lias Andersson (one goal, one assist in seven games) and Filip Chytil (one goal, two assists in nine) were also given chances to play down the stretch and could make the team out of training camp in the fall.

FREE-AGENT FRENZY?

The Rangers could choose to hasten their rebuild with some moves in free agency, but that option may be hampered due to tough decisions to make with some of their own players.

Spooner is among the team’s eight restricted free agents, along with Jimmy Vesey Justin Blackmon Jersey , Kevin Hayes, Brady Skjei, Vladislav Namestnikov, Rob O’Gara, John Gilmour and Ryan Sproul. Also, Paul Carey, Cody McLeod, David Desharnais and backup goalie Ondrej Pavelec are unrestricted free agents and will not likely be re-signed.

WATCH THE DRAFT BOARD

The Rangers have stockpiled draft picks this year with seven selections in the first three rounds, including three first-rounders. This will make it two straight years with multiple picks in the first round after four straight years without any.

Unless they win the draft lottery, The Rangers aren’t going to get Rasmus Dahlin. However, other strong defensemen that could be available include Adam Boqvist, Evan Bouchard and Noah Dobson.

NEED TO HEAL UP

In addition to the injuries that cost players time during the season, Zuccarello and Lundqvist both said they have been dealing with knee injuries throughout the season.

Zuccarello said he just had some work done on his knee and will rest up for three to four weeks. Lundqvist plans to address his issue with doctors in the coming days so he can ”do all the right things to be 100 percent when I start training and preparation for next season.”

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