Warriors get challenged, but rally to beat Phoenix
Stephen Curry had a towel draped over his head, Draymond Green had a towel wrapped around his shoulders, and Andrew Bogut used his towel as a prop in a joke with assistant coach Ron Adams.
The Warriors were supposed to have a spa day against lowly Phoenix on Saturday at Oracle Arena, but they ended up having to grind out a 123-116 victory over the Western Conference’s second-worst team.
The Suns’ hot shooting kept them close in a game that was disjointed by 55 foul calls, taking a 108-105 lead on a Brandon Knight three-pointer with 5:50 remaining.
Curry responded with two three-pointers, sandwiched around dunks by Marreese Speights and Harrison Barnes, for a 10-0 run to re-energize a crowd that hadn’t seen the Warriors lose a regular-season game at home since Jan. 27, 2015.
Kerr considered bringing Curry back with two or three minutes remaining in the third quarter, but he decided to wait until the start of the fourth — after the Warriors had watched an 11-point, first-half lead turn into a nine-point deficit.
The Warriors, even after finding out they’ll miss Andre Iguodala for at least two weeks with a sprained left ankle, committed only eight turnovers and were simply more talented than their competition.
Curry went to the bench with four fouls at the 7:55 mark of the third quarter, and the Warriors’ lead evaporated into a 92-82 deficit on a Knight three-pointer with 1:35 to play.
Speights scored six points during the 9-0 run and added a three-point play that put the Warriors ahead 100-98 with 8:53 to play.