ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — In the third and fourth quarters of the Golden State Warriors‘ 123-116 victory over the Phoenix Suns, guard Brandon Knight torched the Warriors for 7-of-12 downtown and 28 points, scoring 17 in the third quarter alone.
Knight was largely responsible for a late-third-quarter Suns lead of 92-82, their largest of the game after trailing 60-56 at halftime, but Stephen Curry and Marreese Speights sparked a Warriors comeback before Knight’s seventh triple gave the Suns a 108-105 edge with under six minutes to play.
That’s when Curry led another run, this time 13-2, to put Golden State ahead, 119-110, with just two minutes remaining. Still, Knight had proven all night long that such a gap could be quickly reduced from long range.
That’s when Shaun Livingston stepped in on defense, leaving Alex Len to aggressively double-team Knight, guarded by Curry, and the resultant steal and fast break dunk broke the Suns’ back. The Warriors slammed home the victory, their 48th in a row at #Roaracle.
“I can’t remember how the play started, but we were definitely in sync and calling the same coverage,” Curry said of Livingston to LetsGoWarriors after the game. “He made a play on the ball and I was in my position to take away the drive on the baseline.”
“I knew (Knight) had been hot all night,” Livingston told LetsGoWarriors. “I knew he was searching for a shot, so as soon as he came my way, I just jumped him.”
This wasn’t the first time the Warriors have demonstrated a collective mind with their now-innate ability to just be on the same page defensively at any given critical moment on the floor. We saw it in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals last season when Curry and Klay Thompson swarmed James Harden to prevent a buzzer-beater.
This season, there was the late eight-second backcourt call induced by game situation awareness in overtime at home against the Brooklyn Nets this past November, as well as the double-team of Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City.
Livingston poked the ball away from Knight and Curry added a little flair, a behind-the-back dish, to the delight of “WarriorsGround”. Livingston did his part, too, with a one-handed lefty jam after catching Curry’s delivery, blowing the roof off of the arena.
“The ball came right to me,” said Curry. “It was kind of a fun fast break in that situation, to turn our defense into offense, so he made a big play.”
Livingston, who had converted an alley-oop earlier from Curry during initial stages of the comeback, admitted it wasn’t easy getting his 30-year-old body down the court to climb the ladder.
“I was actually drained from those alley-oops I finished,” said Livingston.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MCEd6hR7cA&w=560&h=315](Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @poormanscommish)
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