Prior to his team’s Christmas Day showdown in Phoenix against the Suns, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr admitted he looks at the standings every day.
When Kerr wakes up on Sunday, he’ll see a new team atop the Western Conference following Golden State’s 116-107 victory against the reigning conference champions.
“The fact it came on Christmas, we’re on the road, what a great Christmas gift for our guys,” Kerr said. “They obviously gave it to themselves, but it’s fun playing on Christmas, there’s a special vibe and obviously this game with the two teams with the best record in the league had a special feel to it.”
Thanks to a 33-point performance from Stephen Curry and seven points in the final two and a half minutes from Otto Porter Jr., the Warriors (27-6) dealt the Suns (26-6) their third home loss of the season and took a 2-to-1 lead in the head-to-head season series.
With six wing players sidelined for Saturday’s game including four –Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, Damion Lee and Moses Moody– who are in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, the Warriors entered an already challenging matchup with a short-handed roster. The Warriors had concerns about whether they’d be able to score enough to keep pace with the Suns, but as he so often does, Curry provided early answers to the team’s most pressing questions.
Curry entered Saturday averaging just 13.1 points in eight career Christmas Day games, but his historical holiday struggles didn’t follow him to Phoenix as the 13th-year veteran scored 33 points on 10-of-27 from the floor. Curry had never scored more than 19 points or made more than two three-pointers in any of his previous Christmas Day starts, but he drilled five three-pointers against the Suns and topped 30 points for the fourth consecutive game and 13th time this season.
“I talked about it a lot and I knew what the numbers said,” Curry said of his prior Christmas woes. “So it was definitely a concerted effort to get off to a good start and just enjoy myself. Now I’m ready to get home.”
Curry received plenty of help on Saturday, especially in the fourth quarter as Porter made a pair of 16-foot jumpers on consecutive possessions to extend the Warriors’ lead from two points to six with 80 seconds to play. Thirty-three seconds later, Porter peeled around the top of the arc, caught a pass from Draymond Green and nailed a three-pointer to put the game out of reach and seal a Warriors victory.
“Coach drew up a couple of plays that freed me open and my teammates did a good job of finding me,” Porter said. “I was able to step in, knock some shots down and they kept finding me. So I got in a rhythm coming off some screens.”
Saturday’s game marked the second start of the season for Porter, who was thrust into the starting lineup for the first time on Thursday against Memphis as Kerr sought another solid shooter for a group that was missing production from Poole and Wiggins.
“He can shoot the ball,” Curry said of Porter. “I know he’s been through a lot of injuries, but he’s been working his butt off since he got here this summer and you could tell he looked confident and composed with what he was trying to do in getting to his spots and knocking it down.”
Despite missing the majority of their wing players due to health and safety protocols, the Warriors dictated the tempo of Saturday’s game throughout the first quarter as Golden State outscored Phoenix 33-27 and received contributions up and down its roster.
Curry scored 11 of his team-high 33 points in the opening quarter while Green recorded six assists in the game’s first eight minutes, but the Suns’ depth eventually enabled Phoenix to overcome the Warriors’ hot start. The Suns took their first lead of the game with 5:33 to play in the second quarter when Deandre Ayton hit a 10-foot hook shot and carried a four-point advantage into halftime after veteran point guard Chris Paul nailed a three-pointer with three seconds remaining before the break.
During a 14-3 Suns’ run in the second quarter, Phoenix took advantage of Golden State’s second unit, which was lacking offensive firepower and foul-prone on the defensive end of the floor. The Warriors trailed 62-58 entering halftime, but showcased impressive resilience in the third quarter as center Kevon Looney and guard Quinndary Weatherspoon, who joined the team on a 10-day hardship contract, provided much-needed energy on defense.
“One of the reasons we felt really comfortable playing (Weatherspoon) was because of his defensive ability,” Kerr said. “We knew we were going to have to guard Devin Booker and Chris Pual on switches and I thought Quinndary was fantastic.”
The Warriors and Suns entered the fourth quarter tied at 84-84 and that’s when Curry began his best stretch of the game, scoring 10 points in the first five minutes of the quarter to help Golden State regain command of the game. With Phoenix determined to take away looks for Curry down the stretch, the Warriors leaned on Porter, who finished with a season-high 19 points in the win.
The Warriors will have consecutive off days before returning to action on Tuesday night at the Chase Center against the Denver Nuggets.
Source: www.mercurynews.com