What we learned as Steph struggled with the loss to KD was that the Suns originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Thanksgiving dinner and two days off weren’t a winning formula for the Warriors to end their losing streak, as they lost 113-105 to the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night at the Footprint Center.

The Warriors have lost four straight games and are 12-7 this season.

However, it was not due to a lack of fighting spirit.

The Warriors went on a 13-3 run and turned what looked like a bust into a battle until the final minute. But it was too little, too late. They outscored the Suns by ten points in the third quarter and won the second half by nine points. A 17-point halftime hole buried Golden State on the road.

Steph Curry scored 23 points, albeit on 8 of 21 shooting and 3 of 10 shooting from beyond the arc, with 21 of his points coming in the second half.

Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ recent loss.

Podz receives the starting signale.g

Lindy Waters goes out and Brandin Podziemski comes in. As coach Steve Kerr searched for answers to end the Warriors’ losing streak, he introduced another new starting lineup. The Warriors played 19 games and used 10 different starting lineups.

Curry, Podziemski, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis played together for the first time and played solidly together, although Kevon Looney replaced Jackson-Davis early in the second half.

Podziemski’s determination has taken a backseat this season as he has struggled to shoot. The way he started Saturday night in Phoenix is ​​exactly what Kerr wants to see. When he went to the bench with 5:50 left, Podziemski already had eight points, two rebounds and an assist, shot a perfect 3 of 3 from the field and made both 3-point attempts with the Warriors leading 18-18 points. 16.

Podziemski’s two three-pointers in the first quarter were the most he has made in an entire game in exactly a month, when he made two 3-pointers against the New Orleans Pelicans on October 30. Podziemski ended up filling the stat sheet with 12 points and seven rebounds and four assists against the Suns, a big step forward for the young guard.

Scorching hot suns

According to the stats and the eye test, in the first half Saturday night it looked like the Suns’ offense was harassing their G League affiliate just as much as the Warriors’ defense was. The strategy was simple and the Suns couldn’t miss.

They kept driving and the Warriors collapsed as a team, leading to kickouts, great ball movement and a flurry of threes. The Suns took 23 shots and collected 21 assists in the first half. This is absurd efficiency.

While the Suns had a 17-point lead in the first two quarters, they made 14 three-pointers, twice as many missed shots. The Suns had an 18-point lead from deep, which made the difference. By halftime, six Suns had made threes – all of them multiple threes.

Golden State made the right adjustments in the second half and began the third quarter with Phoenix making just two of its eight three-point shots. The Suns then made two of their six three-pointers in the fourth quarter, a far cry from their stellar first half.

Steph’s slow start hurts

It took some time for Curry to return from bilateral knee soreness to shake off the rust. Too much time.

Early off the dribble, Curry couldn’t get past his defenders. He also couldn’t make any money from the depths. Curry took two shots in the first quarter and missed both. In the second quarter he tried three more times and was unable to score.

That gave him two points at halftime – both from free throws – without a single shot on five attempts. His age and health seemed obvious and even a little worrying. Until the third quarter.

It’s no mistake that once Curry got going, the Warriors did too. They outscored the Suns 29-19 in the third quarter, cutting their deficit to just seven points, while Curry scored 15 points in the quarter, going 5 of 9 from the field and 3 of 3 on 3-pointers.

But there was no Curry flurry in the fourth quarter that could have saved the Warriors. The concerns were mostly allayed in the second half. The Warriors’ lack of a second real scorer was also obvious.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast