Golden State Warriors pay the price for utter disrespect

Sometimes it’s simply about who wants it more. This is the NBA. There is enough talent to make a team pay if they think it’ll be a walk in the park. That was the Golden State Warriors’ attitude on Tuesday night — blatant disrespect for the talent level at the Phoenix Suns’ disposal.

Playing without four starters, their sixth man, limited to just nine players, and 1-9 in their last ten games, the Suns upset the Warriors in perhaps the most shocking result of the NBA season to date.

The return of Stephen Curry provided little boost to the Golden State Warriors in an appalling 125-113 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night.

Curry’s return was supposed to breath new life into the Warriors after back-to-back losses — they were playing with their usual starting five for the first time since December 2. Curry made the enthusiastic crowd wait for his returning bucket, missing his first two shots — both three-point attempts. A straight-away three and cutting layup announced his return as the two-time MVP sported a sleeve down his entire left arm.

But despite his five points and 14 from his fellow splash brother in Klay Thompson, the Warriors were disappointing in a disjointed first-quarter. Celebrating his championship ring ceremony, Damion Lee made a series of jumpshots to lead the Suns to a 10-0 run and a 31-26 lead after 12.

Nothing signified the Warriors’ early struggles more than back-to-back mid-range airballs from Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole, with the Suns going on an extended 22-7 run to lead by ten four minutes into the second period.

But as bad as that stretch was, it only got worse midway through the quarter. Golden State went over four minutes without scoring  — there were multiple airballs, shot-clock violations, even the turnovers were comical for the Warriors’ standards. The home fans could scarcely believe what they were seeing in one of the ugliest period’s of basketball in the Steve Kerr era.

The Phoenix lead was at 14 going into half-time, with the reigning champions held to just 45 points. Thompson led the Warriors with 16, but Curry, Wiggins and Poole were a combined 11 points on 3-for-21 shooting in the first 24 minutes.

That margin grew to 19 with back-to-back Suns buckets to start the second-half, and despite five more quick points from Thompson, Phoenix continued their dominance in astonishing fashion. A Torrey Craig three extended the lead to 26 with five minutes to play in the third.

Poole eventually came alive towards the end of the third, inspiring an 18-6 run that gave them a theoretical shot in the fourth. Curry showed some positive signs as the Warriors continued to make a push, and a Poole three cut the lead to six with just under 90 seconds to play.

But it was a blight on the Warriors that it took until the final period, and even more specifically the final five minutes, for them to finally turn up the heat. Who would have thought that a team without a genuine point-guard would begin turning the ball over and making mistakes against some more intense defensive pressure.

Golden State had to be perfect to comeback from nearly 30 points down, and as close as they got, there were still crucial missed shots and mistakes that couldn’t be afforded. Lee’s free-throws closed out the Warriors’ hopes and gave him 22 points in a special return to Chase Center for the 30-year-old.

Phoenix were very good given the absences — they played incredibly tough and forced the Warriors into uncomfortable situations. But Golden State simply weren’t ready to be in that environment during the opening three-quarters.

Thompson finished with 29, Poole 27 and Curry 24, but the latter two were no-shows when the game was well and truly on the line. Do the Warriors get anything out of their comeback effort? Maybe, but for now it shouldn’t wash away the disastrous first 36 minutes.

After starting their eight-game homestand with five straight wins, the Warriors end with three really poor losses in games they all started favourite in. They’re now back below .500 and under pressure again, with a matchup against the San Antonio Spurs to come on Friday.