Goran Dragic and Drew Bledsoe of the Phoenix Suns (Photo: Michael Chow / AZcentralSports)
Golden State Warriors (13-11) at Phoenix Suns (13-9)
Tipoff: Sunday, 12/15/2013, 5:00PM PDT
Location: Us Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
TV: CSN Bay Area/ESPN | Radio: KNBR 680 AM
Livetweet: @LetsGoWarriors (by @goldenstatenz)
The Warriors make a one-game road trip to Phoenix to face the Suns, then head back home to #Roaracle for games against the New Orleans Pelicans, San Antonio Spurs, and Los Angeles Lakers next week.
Drew Bledsoe and Goran Dragic have been the heroes thus far for the upstart Suns.
“They have two guys in Bledsoe and Dragic that can get anywhere they want on the floor,” said Warriors head coach Mark Jackson after practice yesterday, “They create offense but most impressive thing for me about watching those guys is they play extremely hard at every position.”
“We gotta be able to contain the basketball. They do a great job of iso’ing pick and rolls and we gotta get back in transition because they have explosive scorers across the floor, knock-down shooters, guys that can take care of the basketball. And then offensively we gotta execute,” Jackson added.
The Suns are a microcosm of what’s happening in the Western Conference this year.
Warriors beatwriter Carl Steward had this report:
“(Phoenix head coach) Jeff (Hornacek) has done a nice job with that team,” said Warriors coach Mark Jackson. “The one thing that jumps out is they play extremely hard at every position — they get after it, and they play with an edge, which is the first step toward changing a culture.”
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Phoenix has rather suddenly developed a dynamic backcourt combo in Eric Bledsoe, who was acquired in an offseason trade with the Los Angeles Clippers, and Goran Dragic, who signed as a free agent in 2012. Both are averaging more than 19 points, dramatic career-high scoring jumps for both players. Together, they have lifted the Suns from the ashes of last year’s 57-loss club.
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In short, their emergence makes the Western Conference race that much tougher. The 13-11 Warriors enter the game as the ninth-best team in the team in the West (the Suns are sixth), with four other teams right on their heels. Clearly, the rest of the conference isn’t waiting for Golden State to get well or sort out its other issues, such as bench production and turnover trouble.
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“There are no breaks,” said Warriors guard Stephen Curry. “Every team is powerful and capable of showing up big and playing well every single night. Phoenix, from what I’ve seen, is deep. They’re getting some bench production, and Bledsoe and Dragic are playing very well for them. We have to be ready for 48 minutes, especially in their building.”
To beat the Suns, the Warriors have to start curing their problem of slow starts and turnover-prone games.
“We can’t spot teams leads in the first half. We’ve been getting outscored tremendously. I think it’s double-digits on average,” Curry said, “We can’t do it on the road and we can’t rely on the 4th-quarter-, 3rd-quarter- comebacks to have to exert that much energy to get back in the game and then go get over that hump, so if we can start off the game early with a defensive mindset, regardless of how we’re shooting the ball, we’ll be fine.”
“We gift them points and it hurts us,” Jackson said of the Warriors’ turnover woes.
The Warriors will still have Andre Iguodala and Jermaine O’Neal sidelined with injuries. Iguodala traveled with the team to Phoenix.
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