The Phoenix Suns got themselves a gutsy win in the final seconds thanks to a Jordan Goodwin free throw. The Warriors led by as many as 14, but the Suns clawed their way back in this one to pull it off.
Phoenix improves to 15-12 on the season and 9-5 at home.
Dillon Brooks got off to a hot start and finished with 24 points. Devin Booker led the Suns with 25, with 23 of them coming in the second half. Gillespie chipped in with 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Phoenix held Stephen Curry to just 15
points on 3-14 shooting.
It wasn’t without some late-game drama, where the refs randomly decide what is reviewable and what isn’t based on how much a player (LeBron, this time Dryamond) yells at them. Anyway, let’s run through the game.
Game Flow
First Half
The Suns and Warriors traded buckets early. Golden State jumped out to an 11-9 lead in the opening four minutes, leading to a Suns timeout.
Dillon Brooks got off to a red-hot start, pouring in 13 of the Suns’ first 15 points in the opening 5 minutes.
Brooks also picked up his league-leading 9th technical foul of the season, putting him four ahead of the next closest player.
It was a rough opening quarter for Devin Booker. He went scoreless in 9 minutes with two fouls and a turnover on 0-3 shooting.
After one, Phoenix trailed 29-26. Jimmy Butler led the Warriors with 11 points, including six free throw attempts. Dillon Brooks led all scorers with 13.
The second quarter saw more back-and-forth action. Phoenix’s defense was locked in, but the offense was a problem for anyone not named Dillon Brooks.
Booker didn’t register his first points until late in the 2nd quarter. It was a combination of bad shot selection and Golden State making his life difficult.
The Warriors took a 53-46 lead into the half. Dillon Brooks led all scorers with 20 points.
Second Half
The second half saw Golden State jump out to increase their lead early, jumping out to a 62-48 lead. Then, Devin Booker started to get going, and the Suns quickly responded with a 10-0 run to make it a four-point game in a flurry.
Things started to get chippy, surpsing to no one in a game with Dillon Brooks and Draymond Green sharing the court. A Devin Booker triple made it an 18-4 Phoenix run to tie the game at 66, leading to a Warriors timeout.
Gillespie and Goodwin continued to play their typical gritty style to create chaos in the backcourt. It was a slow, grind-it-out third quarter, with the Suns holding the Warriors to just 18 points.
They entered the fourth down by one, 71-70.
The opening quarter started with a scary sight. Collin Gillespie grabbed his knee after taking a direct shot to the knee off a Jonathan Kuminga drive. He returned moments later to a standing ovation, followed by a Jordan Goodwin triple to shift the momentum back in Phoenix’s favor.
Phoenix’s defense was flying across the floor in the second half, but especially in the opening minutes of the 4th. The Warriors went on a run of their own to take a one-point lead with just over 4 minutes remaining after a personal 5-0 run from Brandin Podziemski.
A Dillon Brooks drive (which should’ve been an and-one) right at Quentin Post late in the game gave the Suns a 7-point lead. Jimmy Butler scored 4 straight points to cut the lead to three with 1:30 left.
A late-game referee takeover happened again, with a review on a play where a foul wasn’t called. Brooks got a flagrant one, and Steph got two free throws, followed by a Jimmy Butler three to make it a five-point play out of thin air.
Then, Book hit a clutch shot to give the Suns a two-point lead.
A last-second foul sent Jordan Goodwin to the charity stripe with 0.4 seconds left. He missed the first, then drilled the second. Ballgame.
Up Next
Same teams, different place. The Suns will travel to the Bay Area for a showdown against this same Warriors squad on Saturday night.
