NBA News Wire
Warriors get defensive in 106-87 win
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors lead the NBA in scoring, but time and again, first-year coach Steve Kerr has noted his club can be darn good on defense.
Saturday was one of those nights.
The Warriors held the Phoenix Suns to three field goals in the first 9:04 of the fourth quarter and a full 20 points below their season scoring average overall en route to a 106-87 victory that snapped a two-game losing streak.
“Really, a good win tonight,” said Kerr, whose club suffocated the Suns on the defensive end during the final three quarters while avenging an earlier loss this season. “I thought our defense in the second half allowed us to score 54 points without even playing that well (on offense).”
Coming off a loss at Utah in which they gave up 110 points — the fifth consecutive game in which the Golden State opponent topped the century mark — the Warriors (37-8) limited the league’s second-leading offensive team to 22-of-66 shooting from the field (33.3 percent) in the final three quarters and 36.3 percent for the game.
The Suns scored only 36 points in the second half and finished with a season-low total.
“We came back into our groove,” said Warriors backup guard Leandro Barbosa, one of the team’s five double-figure scorers with 14 points. “We knew we didn’t do a good job on defense in the first half. We talked about it at halftime.
“When you play good defense, you’re going to get good offense.”
Up just 84-77 with 7:25 to play, the Warriors got five points apiece from shooting guard Klay Thompson and reserve forward Andre Iguodala in a 15-2 run that ballooned the lead to 20 and buried the Suns.
Point guard Stephen Curry had 25 points and seven assists, and backcourt mate Thompson added 22 points for the Warriors, who have had three two-game losing streaks this season and followed each with a win.
“It was big for a variety of reasons,” Curry said of the win, which began with nine consecutive missed shots and a 12-point, first-half deficit. “We had a big comeback, a lot of guys played well and stepped up, and we just fought to get this win.”
Small forward Harrison Barnes chipped in 13 points, Iguodala scored 12 and power forward Draymond Green had a team-high 11 rebounds for Golden State, which improved to 22-2 at Oracle Arena with a sixth straight home win over the Suns.
Thompson, Barnes and Green also blocked two shots apiece. Golden State had eight blocks in the game.
The double-digit margin of victory was the Warriors’ 28th of the season. They began the night with a league-best plus-16.0 average point differential at home and improved upon it.
The Warriors shot 46.0 percent from the field for the game.
“They challenge every shot,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said of the Warriors. “They played a good game defensively on us, and we never really got anything easy.”
Power forward Markieff Morris had a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double for the Suns (28-21), who capped a 6-2 homestand with a 99-93 win over Chicago on Friday night.
Point guards Eric Bledsoe (16) and Isaiah Thomas (13) combined for 29 points for Phoenix, which returns home to face Memphis on Monday.
“We were never really on the attack,” Hornacek said. “We need to continue to push it. Maybe (we) were a little tired, but (the Warriors) played (Friday night as well), so that’s no excuse.”
Down most of the first half and up just one at the intermission, the Warriors built an eight-point cushion entering the fourth quarter by limiting the Suns to 33.3 percent shooting from the field and 19 points in the third quarter.
Thompson had seven of his 22 points in the quarter.
NOTES: The Warriors began the day having allowed opponents to shoot just 42.2 percent for the season, the best mark in the league. … Golden State has held 13 opponents to under 40.0 percent shooting this season. … The Warriors (15-5) and Suns (16-6) began the day with the second- and third-best records in the league since Dec. 17, trailing only Atlanta (22-1). … The Warriors have only two home games from Super Bowl Sunday through March 3. … Golden State PG Stephen Curry (25) and SG Klay Thompson (22) both topped 20 points in the same game for the 60th time in their careers. The Warriors are 46-14 in those games. … Suns SG Gerald Green played 13 minutes off the bench after never getting into the game Friday night. Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said Friday’s absence was a coaching decision, not a disciplinary action.
