Not content with utilizing the unusual tactic of a 12-man rotation, Steve Kerr went to 13 players in the first-half as he and the Golden State Warriors exhausted all options to try and curb the Phoenix Suns offense on Saturday night at Footprint Center.
The Suns went 14-of-21 from 3-point range in the first-half, helping them to 66 points and a 17-point lead. While the Warriors mounted a comeback in the third and were more competitive in the second-half overall, the damage had already been done in a 113-105 defeat.
A top five ranked defense was pulled to pieces in the first 24 minutes, with Phoenix repeatedly getting wide open looks whether from drive-and-kicks or by ill-advised double teams from the Golden State defense.
Every available Warrior player saw opportunity, including Pat Spencer who got his second successive run as the backup point guard despite the return of Stephen Curry. Kerr went to Brandin Podziemski alongside Curry in the starting lineup, moving Lindy Waters III back to the bench for the first time in eight games.
Podziemski had two threes and eight points in the first-quarter and Andrew Wiggins had 11 first-half points, but the Golden State offense was almost as lackluster as the defense with Curry limited to just one made field goal.
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— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) December 1, 2024
Kerr’s adjustments continued to start the second-half as veteran Kevon Looney opened in place of second-year center Trayce Jackson-Davis. It paid early dividens as the Warriors started on a 7-0 run, before the teams went back-and-forth in a period the visitors ultimately won 29-19.
A Buddy Hield three kept the margin at seven with just over eight minutes to play, only for the Suns to go on a devastating 10-0 run to push the lead back to 17. Golden State did improve their intensity and forced a few Phoenix mistakes to make it interesting in the final 90 seconds, but it was ultimately too little to late in what was their fourth-straight loss.
Curry got himself to 23 points but took 21 shots to do so, while Wiggins had four threes on his way to 18 points as well as being a team-high +12 in his nearly 34 minutes. Draymond Green (13) and Podziemski (12) also scored in double digits, as did Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield off the bench.
What’s worse is that the Warriors actually kept Devin Booker and Kevin Durant to a combined 15-of-40 shooting from the floor, but they were slaughtered by the Suns role players as Grayson Allen, tyus Jones, Royce O’Neale and Monte Morris combined to go 12-of-18 from 3-point range.
Golden State are quickly erasing so much of their good work to start the season, with the challenges only set to continue as they head to Denver to face Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets on Monday.
