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For the Warriors to break through for their first three-game win streak of the season, they needed Kelly Oubre Jr. to break through for his third straight solid offensive game.
As strange as it sounds, it’s possible the Warriors’ success will hinge upon their streaky small forward. When he is shooting well and getting the open looks that Stephen Curry’s gravity creates, the first unit plays with balance. When he isn’t shooting well, he seems to allow those bricks to weigh him down and looks like he loses focus.
Those looks were plentiful on Thursday night, when a dominant Curry couldn’t do it by himself in a 114-93 blowout loss in Phoenix to a Suns team that didn’t have Devin Booker, Dario Saric and Cam Payne. Steve Kerr referred to the team as “battered” before the matchup, but only one team got knocked around.
Chris Paul (13 points, four assists) was a standout of a team whose starting lineup was all in double figures. Oubre, meanwhile, did not hit a field goal until 8:18 in the fourth. The Warriors as a whole looked very much like a tired team that had played a night prior.
Curry (27 points, 10-of-20 from the field) and Andrew Wiggins kept the Warriors afloat for much of the game but had no help; the next-highest scorers were Eric Paschall with 12 and Brad Wanamaker with eight. The Suns grabbed an early lead and kept stretching it, so a five-point halftime edge became a 14-point advantage after three quarters. The lead ballooned to 16 at 7:32 of the fourth, and Golden State (10-9) watched helplessly as a game became a rout.
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Stephen Curry || #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/a35VnT0l3T
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 29, 2021
The Suns (9-8) will be one of those teams the Warriors will jostle with for playoff positioning in a jumbled West, in which nine teams are separated by 2 1/2 games, from the fifth seed to the 13th-best record. The back ends of back-to-backs, especially on the road, can be excused, but the Warriors will be measured in large part by how they play against teams like the Suns.
Starter dreck
Phoenix was balanced, getting contributions from everywhere. Their high scorer was Mikal Bridges, Paschall’s college teammate, at 20 points, but six more were in double-figures.
Among Golden State’s starting five, the third-highest scorer was Oubre with four.
After two straight nice outings, Oubre disappeared and finished 1-for-11 from the field and 0-for-5 from deep against his former team. Though he’s played better of late, he is now 21-for-95 (22 percent) from beyond the arc this season. His athleticism helps him fill box scores, but the Warriors cannot go anywhere if he fills those box scores with misses.
It also doesn’t help if he has little help. Draymond Green was a non-factor, going 1-for-7 for two points. Kevon Looney and James Wiseman were both outplayed by DeAndre Ayton, who finished with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting with 13 rebounds and four assists, and Frank Kaminsky (12 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists).
Wig and a prayer
The Oubre frustrations are overshadowing the efforts of the Warriors’ other talented, formerly frustrating forward.
The Warriors wanted Andrew Wiggins to be a contributor on a loaded unit, and he’s looked pretty comfortable being more than that. Wiggins was Curry’s only help, connecting for 16 points on 11 shots while going 3-for-6 from 3.
Wiggins can be a nice No. 2 scorer, and he knows the pecking order with Golden State. They will be far more successful, though, if he ends up becoming a fourth option.
G League
Alen Smailagic’s trip to the G League bubble in Orlando will be delayed. He was scheduled to go with Jordan Poole and Nico Mannion on Sunday for four or five weeks, but Smailagic will keep rehabbing his knee injury until mid-next week.