Suns Tame Warriors in Second Game of NBA Opening Night Doubleheader
The new-look Phoenix Suns outlasted the new-look Golden State Warriors 108-104 in the second game of the NBA Opening Night doubleheader. Devin Booker led the Suns with a game-high 32 points on 13-21 field goal shooting and a team-high eight assists while also grabbing six rebounds. Kevin Durant scored 18 points and snared 11 rebounds, but he shot just 7-22 from the field in his first game at Golden State since fleeing the Warriors for what he expected to be greener pastures in Brooklyn after the 2018-19 season. Josh Okogie added 17 points on 7-9 field goal shooting, and Jusuf Nurkic had 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds as the Suns dominated the undersized Warriors 60-49 on the boards. The Suns are hoping that Nurkic will fit in better--and be less disgruntled--than Deandre Ayton was.
Stephen Curry paced the Warriors with 27 points, but he shot 8-20 from the field (including 4-14 from three point range) while passing for just one assist and accumulating a -9 plus/minus number. The other "Splash Brother," Klay Thompson, also struggled, finishing with 15 points on 6-18 field goal shooting. In his first game with the Warriors after spending the past three seasons with the Suns, Chris Paul scored 14 points on 4-15 field goal shooting but he also had a game-high nine assists while only turning the ball over once. Paul had six rebounds and a +5 plus/minus number.
This game had significant momentum swings, as Phoenix led by 15 points (61-46) at halftime, but Golden State rallied to lead by eight points (88-80) early in the fourth quarter. A few consistent themes emerged: without a true point guard running the show the Suns had 19 turnovers and did not shoot as efficiently as usual (42-95, .442), while the Warriors shot even worse than the Suns (36-101, .356) and also struggled to defend the paint and get rebounds to complete defensive possessions.
Each team was missing a key player: the Suns' Bradley Beal was inactive due to back tightness, while the Warriors' Draymond Green was inactive because of a left ankle sprain. Until we see these teams at full strength for an extended period of time it is too early to make definitive judgments about how good they are. The Suns are counting on Beal to provide a significant scoring punch while Booker assumes the point guard role formerly handled by Chris Paul. Green is the Warriors' de facto point guard and the linchpin of their defense.
Labels: Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Golden State Warriors, Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns, Stephen Curry
posted by David Friedman @ 9:09 AM
2 Comments:
Every instinct I have tells me that the Warriors are a sinking ship, I refuse to believe that the abrupt departure of Bob Myers was anything but a negative sign, but who knows. They could be like the Spurs from 2008-2014 where they show signs of being completely over the hill and then get back to the finals somehow. Of course, the Warriors don’t have a Duncan-caliber player and their organization appears to be in a bit of disarray so that probably won’t happen. Also, they will never beat Denver in a playoff series as long as Jokic and Murray are reasonably healthy.
Michael:
I agree with you that the Warriors are declining, and that is why I ranked them as the fifth best team in the West.
As long as Jokic and Murray are reasonably healthy it will be difficult for any team to beat Denver in a playoff series.
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