Warriors blot out Suns 123-103 behind Curry’s big night

The Golden State Warriors barbecued the Phoenix Suns with spicy sauce, 123-103. Stephen Curry was in unanimous MVP form, tallying 29 points and 8 assists on 6 made threes. Kevin Durant scored 22 points on 9-of-17 field goals. Klay Thompson chipped in 16 points, but twisted his ankle in the third quarter.

The Suns were led by Devin Booker who gunned his way to 28 points on 11-for-21 shooting and 6 assists, but he also coughed up 9 turnovers. Rookie big man DeAndre Ayton tallied a fine box score line of 20 points and 14 rebounds, but had little impact on the outcome of the game as the Warriors ran away.

First Half

Durant had 15 points, Curry had 14 points and 7 assists, Thompson scored 13 points, and Green dropped 7 dimes for his teammates. It was clear Thompson was coming out intent to find his rhythm, as he shot 5-of-10 from the field at the half.

Jonas Jerebko came out firing early as well, drilling 2-of-3 attempts from downtown and tallying 8 points for the half. The Warriors seemed to be energized in front of the home crowd, and promptly outscored the Suns 24-to-2 in fastbreak points after two quarters.

It was quickly evident the Warriors were using the young Suns as target practice to cure their offensive woes. The champs shot 60% from the field early on (knocking down 6-of-16 from beyond the arc). The Suns were held to 44% shooting from the field and were held to three free throw attempts, the latter being a point of emphasis for the Dubs’ leading up to this game.

Booker tried to keep the Suns afloat with 14 points, but the Dubs forced him into 5 turnovers.

Warriors 70, Suns 47

Second Half

The third quarter was a classic Curry heat-check stanza. He tallied 15 points in the quarter, destroying every Suns’ defender in his sight with his silky handle and laser-targeted shooting. LOOK AT THIS CROSSOVER!

That effectively took the soul out of the Suns for the remainder of the contest. Unfortunately, Thompson suffered an ankle injury attempting to guard Booker. He had done an excellent job of flustering the Suns’ best player, literally ripping the ball from the youngsters hands on drive attempts.

Curry and Durant sat out the fourth quarter, as the game was well in hand. There was a Jordan Bell sighting in the fourth quarter, as he got some extended garbage time. He seemed a bit rusty, and found himself out of position a few times on defense. The game mercifully ended with no other Warriors getting hurt.

The champs found their offensive groove on the hapless Suns, racking up 35 assists on 45 field goals. The Dubs were 14-of-37 from beyond the arc. Jerebko finished 13 points and 5 rebounds on 4-of-8 shooting from the field in over 21 minutes. Jones was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, scoring 13 points.

Moving On

The Warriors move to 3-1, and will host the Washington Wizards at home on Wednesday. The Suns fall to 1-2.

Hopefully Thompson recovers from that ankle injury sooner rather than later; the champs aren’t too stacked in wing bench depth at the moment.