The Golden State Warriors were facing quite an uphill battle on Saturday against the Phoenix Suns. Not only were they playing on the road, but it was the second game of a back-to-back, and their third game in four nights in three cities. And worst of all? They were comically shorthanded. In addition to the expected absent trio (Jimmy Butler III, Moses Moody, and Kristaps Porziņģis), the Dubs were playing without Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Brandin Podziemski, and Al Horford.
And so the result of
the game — a loss — was not at all surprising. But the manner in which it transpired — close for most of it, with the final score single digits (131-122) — was quite surprising, in addition to being encouraging and, if we’re being honest, very entertaining, especially relative to the first two games of the season.
Golden State was heavily outmatched on paper. Playing against a healthy team starring Devin Booker, the Warriors rolled out a starting lineup featuring two rookies (Yaxel Lendeborg and Graham Ike) and one second-year pro (Will Richard), alongside Gui Santos and Brandon Williams.
What followed was some inspired play. The Dubs had lockdown defense early (Richard was doing a stellar job on Booker), while the rookies scored Golden State’s first eight points. A Williams three gave Golden State an early 11-4 lead, and it was clear that it brought the team a whole lot of confidence. While they were playing very team-oriented basketball, it was clear that everyone on the court saw the game as an individual challenge, and a chance to prove that they deserve a large role on this team, even when the other players are healthy.
After their slow start, Phoenix started to figure things out, and went on a 12-4 run to take a 16-15 lead. Order was restored a bit when Charles Bassey entered the game for his season debut, and made so many little winning plays. Golden State was, quite obviously, lacking in the talent department, but they were using excellent hustle to turn broken plays into points, and staying afloat. They were narrowly escaping some ugly sequences — including to end the quarter — and managed to lead 25-22 after the first.
The second quarter started off very scattered for both teams. It somewhat resembled a preseason game, with both squads spinning their wheels and trying to make something happen. The Warriors struck first in the big play department, when Williams — who worked very hard on improving his long-distance jump shot this offseason — sunk a three, drew the contact, and complete the four-point play. But after that, the Dubs offense went stagnant, while Booker — who had a fairly quiet first quarter — started to heat up. Phoenix took the lead but couldn’t run away with it, and led 57-54 at the break. Booker led all scorers with 19 points at halftime, while Lendeborg, who was showing impressive patience on offense, had 13.
It was a very impressive first half considering the talent discrepancy and the differences on the injury report. And it was fair to wonder if the clock would strike midnight and the Warriors — despite not being the team wearing orange — would turn into a pumpkin in the third quarter.
The answer, unfortunately, was yes. And then it was no, and then it was yes again.
While energy and hustle had been enough to result in offense in the first half, it wasn’t the case in the second, They had a long offensive drought in the third quarter, and as they did, Phoenix pushed the lead to double digits. It seemed as though Golden State would not be able to recover from the first real blow of the night.
But they did! Behind easily the best stretch of the young season for De’Anthony Melton, and some stellar play in the paint by Ike and Bassey, the Warriors not only mounted a rally, and not only erased the deficit, but took the lead.
It was very short lived, however. Collin Gillespie sparked a run for the Suns and then Booker, who finished with 17 points in the quarter, took over. The Warriors kept responding, but it was never really enough; finally, Gillespie drained a corner three with 0.5 seconds remaining to cap a stellar third quarter, and Phoenix took a 102-92 lead into the fourth after what proved to quite a high-octane quarter (the Suns outscored the Dubs 45-38 in the third).
By that point, Golden State’s offense was running on empty. The defensive effort remained very admirable, but they couldn’t find offense anywhere. While the Warriors would end up scoring 30 points in the quarter, they couldn’t find offense when it mattered most, and trailed by 15 at the halfway mark. Behind a handful of threes, the Warriors managed to stay kind of in the game, but they were never able to get too close, and lost 131-122.
The biggest difference in the game ultimately was Phoenix’s ability to capitalize on opportunities. The Suns only forced one more turnover than the Warriors did (16-15), but more than doubled the Warriors in points scored off of turnovers (26-12).
Lendeborg was given the keys to the offense for the Warriors with Curry and Podziemski out, and it was a joy to watch. There are obviously still some growing pains, but the first-rounder finished with a team-high 26 points on 9-for-19 shooting (including 6-for-11 on threes), while also grabbing nine rebounds, dishing out five assists, and only turning the ball over twice.
Melton and Williams provided much of the rest of the offense, as they each had their best games of the year: Melton finished with 25 points on 8-for-13 shooting, with five rebounds, five assists, and three steals, while Williams netted 20 on 5-for-10 shooting, with three rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
Ike, an undrafted free agent on a two-way contract, grabbed his first double-double, with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Bassey shot a perfect 4-for-4 en route to 10 points, seven rebounds, and two blocked shots.
But they were no match for Booker, who had a true superstar showing: the five-time All-Star shot 17-for-25 from the field, and finished with 43 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.
The Warriors are now 0-3, and life doesn’t get easier anytime soon. They have two more games left on their current road trip: on Monday against the Denver Nuggets, and on Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
