Ouch.
There was some excitement going into Friday’s nationally-televised showdown between the Golden State Warriors and the Phoenix Suns. The Dubs have been desperately searching for traction, momentum, and something to believe in, and a highly-impressive win on Wednesday night against the NBA-best Oklahoma City Thunder provided a glimpse of those things.
Friday felt like a great test, then, against a talent-stacked Suns team that, despite their middling record, has been among the NBA’s elite when Kevin Durant is healthy.
And Kevin Durant was healthy.
And the Warriors failed the test.
The first quarter was encouraging. The Warriors were running early, trying to beat the Suns down the court on every possession, even after made baskets. They weren’t able to get any looks for Steph Curry — who didn’t take a shot until about seven minutes in — but quality defense, some made threes, and an offensive frequently in transition kept the Warriors in it. They led at the halfway mark of the quarter and, thanks to a pair of Moses Moody threes, stuck right by Phoenix’s hip until the buzzer. Despite Durant and Devin Booker outscoring Curry 16-0, the Suns lead was just 30-27. Encouraging!
Not for long, however. After a short back-and-forth to start the second, the Suns exploded for a 10-run in the blink of an eye. Credit to the Warriors for not backing down though. They kept fighting and kept pushing in transition, and even though their offense was scattered, they kept within punching distance on effort alone. A brilliant sequence about halfway through the quarter transpired when, off a made basket, Buddy Hield beat the Suns down the court for a layup. Moody stole the ball on the other end, with Andrew Wiggins finding Hield for a transition three to cut the lead to six points.
But a timeout was all that was needed to reset the Suns, who had an ultra-quick 8-0 run right out of the break. The Warriors finally put the clamps on Phoenix to end the half, but couldn’t find any shots of their own, and trailed 62-51 at the break. Durant, Booker, and Bradley Beal had outscored Curry 36-2.
They trailed by 10 at halftime against the Thunder, so there was reason for optimism, but that optimism didn’t last long. Curry finally dropped in a few buckets, but the defense fully disintegrated. The absence of Draymond Green? Fatigue after three games in four nights? Simply running into elite offensive talent?
Likely all three, but whatever the equation, the Warriors could get no stops as Phoenix dropped in 36 points in the quarter. Golden State kept showing signs of life, and flirted with making it a respectable deficit, but a flurry of three straight triples from Durant made it a 98-79 game at the end of the quarter. With the Warriors already just 1-18 when trailing after three quarters, a 19-point deficit felt like a death sentence.
And indeed it was. The Warriors caught some fire from distance, and Curry found a little offensive life with a burst of eight points, but the Suns had an answer every time, with a big three, or an offensive rebound, or a transition dunk. The deficit quickly ballooned into double figures, prompting Steve Kerr to waive the white flag as his team limped to a 130-105 defeat, and a large slice of humble pie.
Despite repeatedly getting out in transition, the Warriors had just 15 fast break points, a sign that they often had the right idea, and just the wrong execution. As has been standard lately, they were dominated in the paint (56-36); and as hasn’t been standard lately, their bench was outscored (56-49). Moody and Wiggins led the Warriors with 17 points, while Curry and Brandin Podziemski had 14 each, and Hield 13, all in the first half. Booker led the Suns with 31 points and 11 assists, while Beal had 21, Durant 19, and new center Nick Richards 14 points with 16 rebounds.
The Warriors shot just 37.5% from the field, while the Suns shot 56.2%. Blame that on the defense, or on the offense, or, if you want to be accurate, both.