OAKLAND — With this much offensive firepower, the Warriors don’t need to play perfectly to get the job done.
Despite committing 16 turnovers and checking out on defense for much of the night, Golden State edged out the visiting Suns 126-117 in an offensive thriller on Sunday evening, spurned in large part by 30 point efforts from Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry and 29 from Kevin Durant. The game marked the first time Thompson has dropped 30 this season.
While they did enough to earn their fourth consecutive win, it wasn’t the kind of complete performance one would expect from a Warriors team on two days rest, especially when facing a Suns team on the back end of a home-road back-to-back, fresh off a 122-104 shellacking at the hands of the lowly Brooklyn Nets.
Golden State nearly found themselves in danger of fumbling the game away, when an uncontested Jared Dudley three put Phoenix up 114-109 with 5:48 remaining. As they so often do, the Warriors put themselves back in the driver’s seat by going on an 8-0 run in less than two minutes, catapulted by a pair of threes from Durant and Thompson. They would never trail again.
Thompson was the Warriors most important player in the second half, dropping 24 points on 8-13 shooting, including another huge three with just over three minutes remaining to give the Warriors a 122-115 lead. Thompson scored just six points in the first half.
The three point line was the difference in the game, with Golden State knocking down 16 on 48.5 percent from deep, while the Suns hit just eight on 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. The Phoenix stars were able to get to the rim agains the porous Warriors D but both struggled with their shot, with Devin Booker and Eric Bledsoe combining to go just 2-of-9 from three.
The Warriors looked like the team coming off a back-to-back to start the game, allowing the Suns to score 30 points in the first quarter. The defense was a step slow and continued to be susceptible to back door cuts, giving up 16 points in the paint to open the game. The offense wasn’t crisp either, committing five turnovers and going 1-for-6 from downtown.
The sloppiness continued in the second quarter, with Golden State turning the ball over four more times, and allowing Phoenix to shoot 52.2 percent going into the half. The Warriors were able to regain the lead despite their mediocre play, however, with Stephen Curry dropping 20 on nine shots and Kevin Durant adding 15 on 12.
Golden State’s fortunes seemed to switch once they elected to go without a traditional center, closing the half on a 23-13 run, when Draymond Green replaced the struggling David West.
The game looked to turn on a highlight sequence late in the third quarter, ignited by rookie Patrick McCaw, who hit a three to give Golden State a six point lead and followed it up by blocking Devin Booker’s jumper on the other end. The impressive individual effort ignited the crowd, who went into a frenzy when Durant swatted a Booker layup from behind, leading to another three from Curry to give Golden State a nine point advantage, their biggest up to that point.
But as they did all evening, Phoenix managed to hang around, taking the lead midway through the fourth when Leandro Barbosa, in his return to Oracle Area, hit a three to give the Suns a 109-106 lead.
Sunday marked the ninth consecutive time the Warriors have beat the Suns
Golden State hits the road for a four game East Coast trip starting Wednesday facing face the Toronto Raptors (7-2) for the first time this season.