Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns, holds off Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors

In the 113-105 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night in front of a sold-out stadium at the Footprint Center, the Phoenix Suns went on defense, shared the ball and got a boost of energy from their rookies.

Devin Booker scored 27 points and had nine assists, while Kevin Durant posted a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds to go and had three blocks to give the Suns (11-8) the lead. Tyus Jones added 19 points, going 4 of 5 from 3.

Stephen Curry paced Golden State (12-7) with 23 points, including 21 in the second half. Andrew Wiggins added 18. The Warriors have come back down to earth a bit, having lost their last four games.

The Suns were missing two starters in Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic, but they got 13 second-quarter points from Grayson Allen to build a 66-49 halftime lead.

In his first start of the season, Allen finished the game with 17 points, going 3 of 6 from 3-point range. Allen started all but one of the 75 regular-season games he played last season in his first year with the Suns.

Beal was sidelined for five games due to a left calf injury. He played the next two games, but Beal did not dress on Saturday after feeling tightness in his left calf and an injury to his left ankle during Wednesday’s 127-117 loss to the Brooklyn Nets.

As for Nurkic, he was sidelined due to a bruised right quad due to ankle injuries. Mason Plumlee got the start, but big rookie Oso Ighodaro provided a jolt of energy off the bench with six points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots.

The Suns have a 3-7 record in their last 10 games, but two of those wins have come against the Los Angeles Lakers and Warriors. Phoenix had 31 assists on 38 field goals against the NBA’s fourth-best defense on Saturday.

Here are three takeaways from Phoenix’s response win after Wednesday’s loss to the undermanned Nets.

On fourth down, the defense came into its own again

Lindy Waters III may have fallen outside of his job description.

He stood in front of the shot clock and tried to get past Durant.

Durant slid his feet and stayed in front, blocked Waters’ three-point corner attempt, recovered the ball and left it on the court, leading to a layup by Monte Morris that gave the Phoenix 7:37 to go in the fourth quarter took the lead with 10 minutes.

The Suns blocked four shots in the quarter. Durant accounted for two, while rookie Ryan Dunn and Ighodaro each had one.

Those shots fueled a vigorous defensive effort in the fourth period that shut down Golden State. They moved their feet, stayed in front and challenged the Warriors at the rim.

The Suns extended their lead to 17 points, which proved to be the cushion they needed.

The Warriors got within six, but Durant hit a 3 to push the Suns to nine points (108-99) with 1:42 left.

Not done, Golden State got even closer at 108-103, but Phoenix improved to 8-2 in games decided by eight points or fewer.

Precise first half, sloppy third

The Suns scored 3s through quick and precise ball movement and built a 17-point lead at halftime.

They played in rhythm. The Warriors chased the ball and couldn’t keep up, as Stephen Curry scored just two points in the first half and missed all five field goals, three of which were from three.

Then they started the second half with missed shots, turnovers and a lack of ball movement. Curry started cooking with 15 points in the quarter, leading the Warriors back into the game.

Golden State got within seven points with 5:01 left in the third period, but never got closer as Phoenix led 85-78 heading into the fourth.

The Suns have shown why they are a championship threat even without Beal and Nurkic. They have more than enough shooting around Booker and Durant.

This is magnified when the Suns play with speed when moving the ball.

When the game slows down, the ball gets stuck and that allows the defense to contain the Suns. You have to make a conscious effort to play fast, even if it seems rushed, because it leads to open looks.

Defensively, Curry had to find range, but the Suns still gave up points, whether through the drive, ball movement or offensive rebounds.

Final 4:02 of the first quarter

The Suns trailed 21-20 after Jonathan Kuminga made a free throw and Kevin Durant ended the game.

Booker took the Phoenix lead with a 15-8 run to end the quarter and take a 35-29 lead.

He scored eight of those 15 points and assisted on four more, the latter of which finished off a two-handed lob to Ighodaro to give the Suns a 32-27 lead with 1:17 left.

Booker closed the quarter with a corner 3, after precise ball movement he began an inside advance to Ighodaro. Two more Suns touched the ball before it hit Booker for the corner three.

He finished the quarter with 10 points, four assists and zero turnovers.

Oh yeah, Booker played the entire first quarter for the first time this season. That was the norm for most of his career, but Mike Budenholzer had knocked him out at some point in the first round.

Budenholzer’s substitution patterns have been inconsistent, but injuries have also affected them. I’ll be interested to see if he continues to play against Booker in the first 12 minutes of the game.

Breaking News

Dellupodisabato

Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns, holds off Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors

Leave a Reply Cancel reply