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In their third preseason game, the Golden State Warriors fell victim to a hot shooting Phoenix Suns, 117-109. Despite Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant leading the way, the Warriors weren’t looking sharp on defense, and the Suns capitalized all night long.
Curry finished the night with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting (3-of-8 from three). After missing the last preseason game against the Kings, he was looking in good form, hitting a couple of threes and displaying dribbling exhibitions that elicited a few “oohs” and “ahhs” from the crowd.
Curry Quick Hands To Eye Gaze Hand Collection Deception
— BBiomechanics (@BBiomechanics) October 9, 2018
*Hand placement, wrist to forearm with shoulder movement organization enabling fluid transition to acceleration @bballbreakdown pic.twitter.com/KxV1QpYlfy
Steph Curry (21 PTS, 3 3PM) had it going in the first half for the @warriors!#NBAPreseason pic.twitter.com/QCgv7qd1w0
— NBA (@NBA) October 9, 2018
With no Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, and Shaun Livingston tonight, the Warriors were bound to suffer in terms of defense, and suffer they did. They gave up 40 points in the first quarter, and 38 points in the third quarter. Again, this is the preseason, and Steve Kerr intended this game to be some sort of a “tryout” game for their training camp invitees, so I wouldn’t read too much into that.
With that said, the Suns deserve a ton of credit for bringing their A-game tonight. Their revamped offense under new head coach Igor Kokoškov looks very promising, and it netted them a 14-of-33 stat line from three-point range (42.4%), including this beautiful hammer action play:
Hammer Action, what is... pic.twitter.com/7gAN7ZZDu0
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) October 9, 2018
An interesting stat to take note of is that the Suns had a total of 29 assists on the night, whereas the Warriors had 26. The Suns’ new offense is looking to move the ball around and involve every player on the floor, reminiscent of the philosophy that the Warriors espouse. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Suns manage to eclipse their 21-win total from last season.
Deandre Ayton, this year’s top pick of the draft, looks like a promising talent. He finished with 18 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.
Unusual for a preseason game, a lot of offensive fouls due to illegal screens were called tonight. Steve Kerr was visibly upset with the officiating, and he let referee Ben Taylor know what he was thinking:
“I don’t want to be here anyway...” -Steve Kerr pic.twitter.com/cttXCyaHIo
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) October 9, 2018
Taylor responded in kind by tossing Kerr out of a preseason game. You can’t blame Kerr — after seeing how the Warriors were playing all night long, no one would want to be there either.
The Warriors go up next against the new-look Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday, October 10, in perhaps the most anticipated preseason game of the season.