PHOENIX (AP) — The Warriors’ core could use some of whatever the bench unit had cooking in Wednesday night’s loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Golden State’s starters appeared to be trapped attempting to claw back from a 23-point deficit fuelled by an angry Chris Paul ejection directed at opponent Scott Foster and a second-quarter turnover-driven collapse. Those motion offense gears that usually hum were stuck up in the half-court against the Phoenix Suns, as they have been against most opponents when Draymond Green isn’t pushing the tempo. Klay Thompson scored a season-high 23 points, but the Warriors couldn’t keep up with the pace.
Then, midway through the third quarter, just as coach Steve Kerr appeared to be waving the white flag on this Thanksgiving holiday shambles, magic happened.
With the game within striking distance, all eyes were on Kerr to see when he would bring in Curry, Klay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins to try to seal the deal. That moment never arrived. He gave the bench unit a chance to finish the job, and they pulled within three points, forcing the Suns to keep Devin Booker and Kevin Durant on the field until the end.
“There was consideration (to bring Curry in),” Mr. Kerr said. “But it’s one of those games where the bench comes in and plays fantastically well, much better than the starters, and they get you back in it.” And you reward them while sticking to your guns.
“We definitely considered it, but those are strange moments as a coach when it doesn’t work.”
With the game within striking distance, all eyes were on Kerr to see when he would bring in Curry, Klay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins to try to seal the deal. That moment never arrived. He gave the bench unit a chance to finish the job, and they pulled within three points, forcing the Suns to keep Devin Booker and Kevin Durant on the field until the end.
“There was consideration (to bring Curry in),” Mr. Kerr said. “But it’s one of those games where the bench comes in and plays fantastically well, much better than the starters, and they get you back in it.” And you reward them while sticking to your guns.
“We definitely considered it, but those are strange moments as a coach when it doesn’t work.”
“They played hard, they flew around the court,” Curry said at the time. “They realized they had an opportunity to be seen and heard in that situation.” It was incredible to watch, and we are quite pleased of how they competed.
“We need to find some of that energy.” And understand that your prior accomplishment will not necessarily carry you forward unless you take action and impose your will. And we have continually failed to do so.”
The Warriors want to improve their transition offense, which now ranks last in the league, according to Second Spectrum. Without Green, the regulars’ starting unit with Chris Paul has outperformed the team’s go-to starting five.
However, the starters lack the explosive aspect that allowed the bench to seize control of the game.”I think our second unit, guys that don’t get a lot of minutes, you’re just playing out there with nothing to lose at that point,” Podziemski told reporters. “Already down how much we were already down, you just fight and compete and I think that’s what we kind of lacked to start the game.”
They had fallen behind not only on offensively, but also on defense. They couldn’t stop fouling Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, resulting in 52 free throw attempts for the Suns. This was the highest Golden State had allowed since 2015, while the Suns’ 44 free throw attempts were the most since 2006.
Fouling problems are a byproduct of fielding a smaller squad — and Curry’s focus was on the gaudy FT total as he reflected on the Warriors’ seventh loss in eight games. This hasn’t been a new problem for the Warriors throughout the years.
The absence of the Warriors’ customary orchestrated pandemonium is just as startling. In a loss, the bench brought that.
“Defensively they caused a lot of chaos, they got a lot of steals and turned easy points in transition,” Curry said in a statement. “I believe we only had six points in transition until they arrived.” They took advantage of their youthful vitality. We won’t be the young whippersnappers we once were, but we must find a method to impose our will defensively and create mayhem in order to make the game easier for ourselves.”
