After edging the Golden State Warriors by one point on Thursday, the teams met again for the second time in three nights, this time at Chase Center in San Francisco. Even with Devin Booker pouring in 38 points, the Suns could not survive a night full of self-inflicted mistakes. They were crushed on the glass, and that came despite Draymond Green being ejected early.
Phoenix dropped 44 points in the first quarter. After that, the offense dried up. They managed only 43 points over the next two quarters
combined. A 14-point lead slowly evaporated, then flipped, and suddenly the Suns were staring at an 11-point deficit late.
They pushed back and made it a one-possession game, but the comeback ran out of road.
Stephen Curry finished with 28 points. Jimmy Butler added 25. Will Richard burned Phoenix off the bench with 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting and 4-of-4 from deep.
Booker ended the night with 38 points and five assists. Dillon Brooks chipped in 22 on an efficient 8-of-11 from the field. None of it was enough. Phoenix was out-rebounded 48 to 35, and the Warriors’ bench outscored the Suns bench 52 to 31.
The loss drops the Suns to 15 and 13 on the season.
Game Flow
First Half
Devin Booker was the story early in this one. He came out aggressive on the offensive end and far more efficient. He was also initiating the offense, using his gravity to open things up for everyone else on the floor. Book finished the first quarter 3-of-6 from the field with 11 points and four assists.
With 3:13 left in the first, the Suns stretched the lead to 10 on a Jordan Goodwin three. He knocked down two triples in the quarter. Oso Ighodaro came out with force, slamming home a pair of buckets and setting an early tone.
Dillon Brooks capped a 44-point first quarter by drilling a three-pointer with under a second remaining. Phoenix went 6-of-10 from deep in the quarter and 17-of-24 overall, carrying a 44-32 lead into the second.
The game tilted hard with 10:39 left in the second when Draymond Green was ejected. He aggressively rejected Collin Gillespie on a play, then kept it going as they ran up the floor, finishing it by shoving Gillespie in the back. A technical was called, but Green was not finished. He continued barking at the officials, loud and relentless, until he earned his exit. Steve Kerr picked up a technical as well, and the night took another sharp turn.
For a team already compromised by its lack of size, this had the potential to hurt them moving forward.
Phoenix was doing a good job against Golden State, forcing mistakes and cashing in on them. The Warriors committed 13 turnovers, and the Suns turned those into 16 points.
Not exactly a great conversion rate for the Suns.
The whistle did Phoenix no favors as the Warriors leaned hard into creating contact and baiting calls. It allowed them to chip away at the deficit which was as high as 14. Even when you are a set defender, if a player jumps into you, the foul still lands on you. Why? Because apparently, you should not have been standing there!
The Warriors outshot the Suns 12 to 4 from the free throw line in the second quarter. Phoenix committed nine fouls in the period. Golden State had four.
The Suns did themselves no favors late. With 0.4 seconds left, Dillon Brooks fouled De’Anthony Melton on a three-point attempt. Melton came in shooting 16.7% from deep this season and still found himself at the line. He made two of the three. The miss should have ended the half. It did not. Phoenix failed to box out, and Will Richard tipped it in at the horn.
After getting outscored 32-23 in the quarter, the Suns still walked into halftime with a 67-64 lead.
Second Half
The Suns came out, and it did not take long for head coach Jordan Ott to burn his first timeout. The defense looked discombobulated. The focus was not there. It came after an easy weak-side dunk by Jimmy Butler, completely unguarded, as Golden State opened the half on a 7 to 3 run.
The whistle stayed heavy and frequent. With 8:54 left in the third, the Suns had already been tagged with four fouls. Nothing wild. Little Ighodaro bumps and routine contact. Still, it was clear the officials wanted zero physicality of any kind. Ironically, Phoenix was the team that reached the bonus first.
Much like the Lakers game earlier in the week, a choppy night filled with free throws does not help this Suns team. It messes with their rhythm. And they looked out of sync all quarter.
They shot 5-of-21 from the field in the third, good for 23.8%, and went 2-of-10 from deep. 20 points total. Heading into the fourth, the Suns trailed 93-87.
Phoenix opened the fourth with more mental lapses. Sloppy passes. Offensive fouls in transition. It added up quickly. The Suns found themselves down 11 as the toxic mix of mistakes, ineffective rebounding, and poor shooting pushed the deficit into double digits.
Phoenix spent the rest of the quarter trading mini runs with Golden State, slowly chipping away. Devin Booker was excellent in the fourth, pouring in 12 points and carrying the offense when it mattered most.
The Suns pulled within 112—110 with a little over a minute left. A poorly timed foul by Oso sent Jimmy Butler to the line for an and-one, which he converted. Booker answered on the other end with one of his own.
Collin Gillespie had a look at a go-ahead three with under 24 seconds remaining. It did not fall. Phoenix was then forced to foul Stephen Curry, who put them up 4.
Gillespie hit quite the impressive fallaway three-pointer to cut it to 1 with 9.8 left.
Steph scored a quick 2 on a layup, despite the Suns actively trying to foul him. On a night when the whistle was tight, it was loose on the play. That left 5.7 seconds, and the Suns down three. The Suns fumbled away the final possession, not getting off a quality shot, and that was game.
Up Next
The Suns play the Lakers on Tuesday at home. We’ll see you then, Bright Side.
