PHOENIX — The Warriors’ core needs a little bit of whatever the bench unit had cooking in Wednesday night’s loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Golden State’s starters looked downright stuck trying to climb out of a 23-point deficit fueled by a heated Chris Paul ejection at rival Scott Foster’s direction and a second-quarter turnover-fueled collapse. Those motion offense gears that usually hum jammed up in the half-court against the Phoenix Suns — as it has against most opponents without Draymond Green pushing the pace. Klay Thompson had a season-high 23 points, but there just wasn’t enough juice for the Warriors to control the pace.
Then mid-way through the third quarter, when it appeared coach Steve Kerr was waving the white flag on this Thanksgiving holiday mess, magic started to happen. The mop up crew pulled the Warriors to within six points with plenty of time to go for a win in the fourth quarter.
In striking distance, all eyes were on the bench to see when Kerr would tap in Curry, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins to try to seal the deal. That moment never came. He let the bench unit try to finish the job, and they came within three points, forcing the Suns to keep Devin Booker and Kevin Durant on the court to the end.
“There was consideration (to bring Curry in),” Kerr said. “But it’s one of those games where the bench goes out and plays great, much better than the starters played, and they get you back in it. And you reward them and you stick with it.
“We definitely thought about it, but those are weird moments as a coach where it doesn’t feel right to go away from the group that is playing great. That was the decision to stay with them because they were making the run. That’s usually how we do it.”
As Curry sees it, the starters could learn a little something from how the bench unit took control of the game. Brandin Podziemski had three steals, ate up loose balls and led the team with a plus-20 in 23 minutes; Dario Saric applied pressure at the rim, made key extra passes and spaced the floor; Cory Joseph facilitated and forced turnovers; Moses Moody had nine rebounds.
It all came together to form something that looked a little more Warriors-esqe. They were in transition, forcing turnovers and running the Suns rampant.
“They played hard, they flew around the court,” Curry said. “They knew they had an opportunity to make themselves seen and felt in that situation. It was unbelievable to watch and we’re super proud of the way they competed.
“We have to find a little bit of that energy. And know the success of the past won’t necessarily carry you unless you do something about it and impose your will. And consistently we have not been able to do it.”
The Warriors have a goal to be more efficient in their transition offense, where they rank at the bottom of the league, according to Second Spectrum. Without Green, the starting unit with Chris Paul with the regulars has out-performed the team’s go-to starting five with a 127.7 offensive rating that ranks among the league’s best lineups.
But the starters lack the explosive factor that the bench used to take the game’s reins.
“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 said. “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’d found themselves down not just because of the offense, but defense, too. They couldn’t stop fouling Kevin Durant and Devin Booker and the Suns got 52 free throw attempts. That’s the most Golden State had allowed since 2015 and the Suns’ 44 free throw makes were the most they’d allowed since 2006.
Fouling issues are a side effect of running a smaller team out on the court — and the gaudy FT number was at the top of Curry’s mind as he looked back at the Warriors’ seventh loss in eight games. This hasn’t been an unfamiliar issue for the Warriors throughout the years.
The lack of organized chaos the Warriors usually swirl up is just as jarring. The bench bringing that in a loss inspires some hope.
“Defensively they caused a lot of chaos, they got a lot of steals and turned easy points in transition,” Curry said. “I think we only had six points in transition until they got there. They used their youthful energy to their advantage. We aren’t going to be the young whippersnappers that we were, but we have to find a way to impose our will defensively and create chaos so that we can make the game easier for us.”