ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The struggling Phoenix Suns (38-37), still mathematically alive for the playoffs, visited Oracle to face the Golden State Warriors (61-13). Then Suns were without point guard Brandon Knight and center Alex Len. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr rested Draymond Green for the third consecutive game due to shin inflammation, but indicated Green would be back for the next game.
1ST QUARTER: Inconsistent Start
Golden State got off on the wrong foot again as, despite two blocked shots by Andrew Bogut, Stephen Curry committed two turnovers early on — both on iso’s against Brandan Wright and the Oracle crowd expecting “Chef Curry” to do something special — and Klay Thompson missed his first four shots, one an airball and three of them too short. Curry also missed his first two shots, a running banker too hard and a three-pointer from the top that was short rimmed.
Meanwhile, PJ Tucker and Markieff Morris came out in rhythm, with Morris canning two turnaround shots on the right baseline and Tucker getting a runner from the left side to drop.
Early on, it was just 6-4, Suns, as Phoenix head coach Jeff Hornacek called timeout with 7:49 to play in the first frame.
David Lee capitalized on a couple of Suns miscues, as he closed out nicely on a PJ Tucker airball, then got the touchdown pass from Bogut for an easy layup as he warded off Tucker on the fastbreak. Thompson finally got a jumper to fall, dribbling and popping from the short right elbow as Bogut delivered a between-the-legs backward pass while shielding off his defender.
The Warriors gained a little bit of momentum as Bogut got a lefty bunny to trickle in, assisted by Curry, then got a lefty banker putback of a Curry missed point-blank layup after he and Lee delivered tic-tac-toe behind-the-back passes that eventually got the ball to Harrison Barnes, who missed the left corner trey that Curry rebounded.
Barnes added a two-hand slam dunk on a baseline out-of-bounds play. Thompson set the pick.
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Lee got a righty dunk on a one-hand putback of a strong move by Barnes down the right land and the Warriors pushed their lead to 18-13 with 4:02 to go, but TJ Warren got a dunk assisted by Eric Bledsoe.
Curry then got his first splash in transition after a Marcus Morris turnover, but Bledsoe ended that run quickly with a trey rattling in, in return.
Steph got his third turnover as he couldn’t handled a lazy swing pass from Barbosa and Kerr called timeout with 2:33 to play and the Warriors up, just 21-18.
Marreese Speights checked in and, after a Curry up-fake and swish pull up on Bledsoe, as well as a Wright two-hand slam runout on a bad pass by Andre Iguodala to Speights, Lee and Speights ended the quarter with buckets near the rim.
Golden State held a 27-22 lead going into the second quarter. Wright led the Suns with 7 points. Lee had 7 for the Dubs. Bogut had 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.
2ND QUARTER: McAdoo And Speights Provide Sparks
Kerr had said pregame that he would try to play everyone and James Michael McAdoo got the start in the second frame, but it was Speights providing the juice again as he went #MoBucket5 mode.
Speights hit a jumper from the right elbow, then another from the right elbow, then one from the top and, all of a sudden, the Warriors were up, 34-22, with 9:25 remaining.
Meanwhile, the Suns missed their first six shots, nine if you count three more missed free throws, then Shaun Livingston found Iguodala wide open at the top, who then passed up the open three to deliver a laser pass to McAdoo on the short right baseline. McAdoo took one dribble, absorbed the contact from Earl Barron and swished the short jumper, but missed the and-one free throw.
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Golden State pushed their lead to 36-22 with 9:05 remaining in the half and Hornacek called another timeout as Reggie Bullock got fouled at the rim by Barbosa.
Livingston then took the young Archie Goodwin off the dribble for an and-one.
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Klay was still off and Speights made a bad touchdown pass intended for Iguodala.
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But shortly thereafter, Thompson got going again via dribble drive.
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Then Klay got a runner and Hornacek called timeout with 2:43 remaining, with the Warriors up 46-36.
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The Warriors ended the half with double-digit separation as Klay found Justin Holiday in transition, then passed up an open three to create a dribble drive and found Steph in the right corner for a splash.
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Curry added a lefty layup scissoring through against Bledsoe, and Festus Ezeli ran a pick-curl-and-roll with Thompson to end the half emphatically and with Golden State up, 55-44.
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Curry had 10 points at the break on 4-for-10 field, 2-for-4 downtown with just 2 assists and 3 turnovers. Klay had 9 on 4-for-9 shooting, 1-for-3 beyond the arc, and Speights added 8 off the bench. Wright led the Suns with 10 points, 7 rebounds.
The Dubs held the Suns to 17-for-47 shooting (36.2%) and 2-for-9 from downtown.
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