The Golden State Warriors got some revenge for Thursday’s brutal, last-second loss to the Phoenix Suns, recovering on Saturday to win 119-116. While it briefly looked like the Dubs would, once again, have a disastrous end to the game and lose a heart-breaker, they finally emerged victorious, breaking a four-game skid in games decided by fewer than five points.
It started with the Warriors flirting with losing composure. It’s no secret that the team is exceptionally frustrated with their current level
of play, and that was exacerbated by rematching the Suns following Thursday’s game, which featured not just a loss, but a cheap shot by Dillon Brooks, who seemingly punched Steph Curry in the stomach on a close out.
Early in the game, Jimmy Butler III put that frustration with Brooks in particular on display, when he exasperatedly tossed a dead ball at Brooks. Perhaps the refs joined Butler in their annoyance with Brooks’ recent shenanigans since, against all odds, Butler was not hit with a technical foul.
It did nothing to slow down the Suns, who were as hot as their name in the first quarter. Despite the fact that the Warriors held the Suns to just 99 points on Thursday, Phoenix had no issue putting the ball in the hoop to start this game. They quickly built up a double-digit lead despite a strong start by Curry, and they kept the lead despite a strong end to the quarter by Butler, who had 10 in the frame. The low-scoring team from Thursday was nowhere to be found, as Phoenix hit their season high for points in a quarter, and took a 44-32 lead into the second.
And that’s where Golden State really showed their frustration with the Suns, themselves, and life in general. Early in the quarter, Draymond Green — seemingly upset that another cheap shot on Curry had gone uncalled — collided with Collin Gillespie, who has taken on Grayson Allen’s role with Allen sidelined (both his role on the court and as a personality). Green, running down the court, gave Gillespie a shoulder and a shove fitting with the CFP action that dominated the sports world earlier in the day, and was hit with a technical foul. From there, Green exploded with anger — seemingly both for the perceived one-way whistle, and for feeling as though Gillespie brake-checked him and caused the hard contact. That anger earned him an instant second technical foul and subsequent ejection, and Green stayed to get his money’s worth.
Suddenly the Warriors were lacking in not just composure, but size, as Green joined Al Horford (sciatica) and Jonathan Kuminga (illness) as frontcourt Dubs who weren’t available.
But, as it often does, the ejection resulted in life. With Steve Kerr joining Green in ripping the refs — though not getting a technical — the Warriors started to channel their anger into energy, and the Chase Center came to life. With help from some big minutes courtesy of Will Richard, the Dubs cut the Suns lead down to four, as the game got hectic in a way that benefitted Golden State. But, as they got closer, they got sloppier, and the deficit ballooned again.
They grabbed all the momentum heading into the locker rooms, though, with a tremendous closing sequence: trailing by seven with a few seconds remaining, De’Anthony Melton — who hadn’t made a shot to that point — rushed the length of the court to fire off a buzzer-beating three, and was fouled by Brooks with just 0.4 seconds remaining. Melton made the first two but missed the third, only for Richard to fly in and tap home the miss. The four-point play put the Warriors down just three, 67-64 as the team’s left the court.
That momentum was carried into the third quarter, where the Warriors quickly took control of the game, and took an early lead. They couldn’t pull away with the game, but held control of it for the bulk of the third quarter. But with just a 93-87 lead entering the fourth quarter, the thought of blowing a game in the final frame was on everyone’s mind.
Early in the fourth, it looked like the Warriors were hell bent on exorcising those demons. They came flying out of the gates with so much energy, and a Gui Santos three with just over seven minutes remaining pushed the lead to 11 points, forcing Phoenix to call a timeout while the Chase Center exploded.
But déjà vu nearly did strike, as the Suns found their rhythm late in the fourth and chipped away at the lead as the arena became quiet and tense. Curry had an answer this time though, draining a three with 1:44 remaining to push the lead back to seven. It felt like the knockout punch … but it wasn’t.
The Suns responded with a bucket and a stop, and then the big (and lucky) play: a banked-in three by Jordan Goodwin with 1:10 remaining, cutting the Warriors lead down to a mere two points. The Warriors responded when Brandin Podziemski found Butler for an and-one with 55 seconds left, but Devin Booker countered with an and-one of his own a mere four seconds later.
It was still just a two-point lead, and everyone held their breath when Curry started a two-for-one by missing a three, opening the door for Phoenix to tie or take the lead.
But Gillespie missed a three, and Curry drained a pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining to push the lead to four.
Phoenix had one final push in them. They drew up a brilliant inbounds play, with Gillespie sinking a three that took just one second off the clock, and pulled the Suns to within a point. Disaster was hanging on the horizon.
Then came an odd play. The Warriors were able to get the inbounds to Curry, who was mauled by a team that needed to foul. And yet, no foul was called. Curry tried to dribble out some clock, and was mauled again. Still no foul was called. Finally, seemingly in a fit of desperation, Curry leaped, hung, reversed, and laid the ball in for the very rare field goal in the final seconds when the other team is trying to foul. Both teams were upset at the refs, but there wasn’t time to linger. They still needed a stop.
They got one. Phoenix could barely get the ball inbounded, and couldn’t get a good look. They were stuck with Booker hoisting a soccer-inbounds style shot from halfcourt, which came nowhere near the hoop. And the Dubs escaped with a 119-116 win.
