SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors returned the favor Friday night, snapping the Phoenix Suns’ franchise-long winning streak at 18 games, three nights after Phoenix sent the Warriors home losers for the first time in seven games.
The two early heavyweights of the Western Conference split their early season series after the Warriors defeated the Suns 118-94 Friday night in a game Golden State led for the final 46 minutes of regulation. Five Warriors scored in double figures, led by 23 from Steph Curry in a bounce-back performance.
Here are some quick observations.
Warriors set tone early
With a set of three plays in the first half, the Warriors showed they were in for a different night than a few days earlier.
After struggling to find separation Tuesday — and struggling to find his stroke even when space was there — Curry quickly set the tone for a bounce-back performance.
With a crossover and a stepback, Curry put Landry Shamet on a yo-yo and drained his second of six 3-pointers, not so much in his defender’s face but a few feet from his outstretched arm.
Curry’s 8-for-20 performance from the field (6-of-11 from 3) will hardly go down as one of the all-time great shooting nights, but it was the improvement the Warriors needed from, statistically, one of the worst shooting nights of his career Tuesday (4-of-21, 19%).
It almost felt personal when Juan Toscano-Anderson soared over Javelle McGee for a poster-worthy throwdown shortly after, putting Golden State ahead 23-19 with 2:11 left in the opening period. The crowd erupted, and it fired up the Warriors, too. The hometown favorite finished with 17 points, a season-high, after he turned the ball over four times in their last meeting.
The slam spurred a run of four straight baskets at the end of the first quarter, allowing Golden State to build a lead that it never relinquished. The Warriors didn’t trail for the final 46 minutes of regulation, running their lead as large as 27 points.
Toscano-Anderson provided another exclamation point in the second half, finishing a flailing attempt at the rim and drawing a foul, part of a 20-8 run in the fourth quarter that turned the game into a rout.
Deandre Ayton was nearly unstoppable Tuesday in Phoenix. His size and athleticism give Phoenix something Golden State simply can’t match.
Draymond Green said the Warriors had to adjust and not allow Ayton to catch the ball so deep in the paint, while Kerr essentially said the big guy is going to get his.
Green quickly made clear that wouldn’t be the case Friday. As Ayton went up for a two-handed finish, he came flying in from behind for the block, one of eight Warriors rejections. Green alone was responsible for six blocks, in addition to nine rebounds and nine assists.
With a team-high 23 points, Ayton was still a force to be reckoned with. But his impact was muted, and a large chunk of his points came from the foul line.
What the foul
Whereas turnovers played a critical role in the Warriors’ loss Tuesday in Phoenix, Golden State had to overcome a mile-sized disparity at the foul line to even the season series Friday.
The Warriors sent Phoenix to the line 35 times, which the Suns converted for 28 points, while Golden State reached the stripe only 12 times, making nine.
A large part of that had to do with containing Ayton.
The Warriors contained Deandre Ayton from the field, but they sent him to the line 16 times, more attempts than Golden State totaled as a team.
On the turnover front, Golden State allowed the Suns to stay in the game with nine through the first half. But the Warriors cleaned it up after halftime to finish with 16, an improvement over their 23 giveaways in the loss Tuesday.
Phoenix was shorthanded, but so was Golden State
We can all admit neither team was playing at full strength this week. The Suns played six of their eight quarters without their best player, Devin Booker, while the Warriors are anxiously awaiting Klay Thompson’s return to the court.
Both players could be back by Christmas Day, when the top two teams in the West face off for the third of their four scheduled regular-season meetings.
Thompson gives Golden State one more threat for Phoenix to worry about while it chases Curry around the court. Booker, for his part, might be the early season favorite to claim the spot next to Curry on the first-team all-NBA team.
On Friday, the Warriors’ supporting cast outplayed the Suns.
Golden State got 51 points from its bench, outscoring Phoenix’s reserves by 17 points, led by 19 from Gary Payton II and 17 from Toscano-Anderson.
Source: www.mercurynews.com