Suns hand Warriors their third loss of the season.

NBA, Suns vs Warriors: Chris Paul.

NBA, Suns vs Warriors: Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton lead the Phoenix Suns to a 104-96 win over the red hot Warriors. With this win, the Suns are on a 17 game winning streak.

Along with good and accurate offense, the Warriors faced a stifling defense. Leading the league in offense, the Warriors could only manage 42 points in the second half. This win became more satisfying after the Suns lose Devin Book in the second quarter due to a hamstring problem.

You can think of how hard the Suns defended as they held curry with 4-21 shooting and forced 22 turnovers. For them, it was Jordan Poole scoring 28 points and Otto Porter Jr. manages 16 points off the bench. Though it wasn’t enough.

NBA, Suns vs Warriors: Stephen Curry.
Stephen Curry.

The game went to the final quarter up until then there was no clear winner. With 5:19 to go, it was just a one-point game. Mikal Bridges (who played excellent defense chasing Curry around all night) stole the ball, and Jae Crowder extended the lead to three with a jumper. And then Draymond Green shot two of the worst layups you’ll ever see outside of a middle school game.

It could have been a huge play after Curry’s free throw cut the Suns’ lead to five, but Steph missed a three, Chris Paul got a steal and a bucket, and Kerr probably wished he had called that timeout after all.

At the start though, the Warriors blazed out hot. With four minutes left, the Dubs were down five points but Jordan Poole took an individual 11-0 run.

NBA, Suns vs Warriors: Jordan Poole.
Jordan Poole.

There was basically no one to contain the Big men. DeAndre Ayton and JaVale McGee combined for 15 points to keep the Suns as close as possible. Ayton was especially mighty, scoring 24 points and dragging 11 rebounds to himself. Defensively on his toes, blocking Curry’s three and defending the perimeter with ease.

In the second, the Warriors took a 48-39 lead in spite of four Juan Toscano-Anderson turnovers in the first 3:26. But when Ayton and Crowder came back on the court, they held the Warriors for nearly five minutes without a field goal. They even went on a 14-2 run. Phoenix stretched the lead to nine points midway through the third quarter.

Gary Payton went ahead to keep the dubs in the game scoring 8 points in only 16 minutes of floortime. Kerr should have played Payton more especially with Damian Lee out.

NBA, Suns vs Warriors: Jae Crowder and DeAndre Ayton.
Jae Crowder and DeAndre Ayton.

Curry on Suns defense and his rough night: “They’re a really good team, they’ve got great chemistry, they were flying around. We’ve got to make adjustments to counter that and take care of the basketball,”

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