RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) --Garry St. Jean's last game as head coach of the Warriors was just as dreary as the rest of them, but this time he felt a sense of peace when it was all over.

"I made this decision 24 hours ago, and I feel now more than ever this is the best thing for this franchise," said St. Jean, who will remain as Warriors general manager but will turn over head coaching duties to Dave Cowens next year.

His last game was Wednesday night's 99-88 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

"I have a lot of respect for this profession," said St. Jean, who chose not to speculate if he will ever look to coach again. "I love my life. And that's been a big part of it."

The game's outcome had potential playoff implications, but any hopes the Suns had of opening the first round of the playoffs at home vanished before tipoff when news came that San Antonio wrapped up an overtime win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

"For us to worry about those guys winning and losing when we had the opportunity to do it ourselves makes no difference," said Phoenix's Cliff Robinson, who led all scorers with 23 points.

"It's kind of disheartening going into the playoffs," said Penny Hardaway. "Coming into this game we weren't as focused, but we knew what we had to do to try and play well this game and try to carry it into the playoffs."

The Suns ran away from Golden State in the fourth quarter and completed a sweep of the season series.

Golden State (19-63) concluded a miserable campaign, a second 19-win season in three years. The Warriors lost their four games against the Suns by an average margin of 16 points.

The Warriors trailed just 72-71 early in the fourth quarter before a decisive 11-2 run keyed by successive 3-pointers by Todd Day and Rodney Rogers put Phoenix up 83-73 with 7:00 to play.

Two free throws by Rogers with 5:30 remaining made it 88-77, and consecutive 3s by Toby Bailey and Day gave the Suns a commanding 97-79 lead with 2:40 to play.

Hardaway added 17 points for Phoenix, while Larry Hughes topped the Warriors with 20 points.

Game notes
The Warriors have scored fewer than 100 points in 11 straight games against Phoenix. ... The Suns have won 17 of their last 19 over the Warriors. ... Phoenix finished with a road record of 21-20, worst among the Western Conference playoff teams. ... St. Jean, who will turn over the head coach duties to Dave Cowens next season and return as general manager, finished 13-42 as interim head coach. P.J. Carlesimo went 6-21 before being fired.