It’s a make or miss league. Truer words were never spoken for the Golden State Warriors in their season opening 108-104 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night.
Despite all the uproar about their first-half fouling and the 17 offensive rebounds they conceded, the facts are that the Warriors blew a major opportunity with an abysmal shooting display.
Veteran point-guard Chris Paul isn’t concerned with the Golden State Warriors shooting woes in their loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Golden State never found a rhythm offensively, with their 40-point third-quarter built off 16 free-throw attempts rather than any hot shooting stretch. The hosts would shoot a paltry 35.6% from the field, including 10-43 (23.3%) from three-point range.
Almost every Warrior was off target on a personal level, with third-year wing Moses Moody (11 points, 4-6 shooting) the only player to shoot above 50% on the night. While the Suns defense should get some credit, Golden State ultimately butchered a number of gilt-edged opportunites particularly around the rim.
Speaking post-game, veteran point-guard Chris Paul laughed off concerns over the Warriors shooting, even bringing up a famous playoff game between the franchise and one of his former teams in the Houston Rockets.
"“I ain’t really worried about the shooting. I’ve been on a team that missed 27-straight threes. I don’t think that’s going to be the case over here…with the shooters that we got,” Paul said."
Golden State’s starters — minus Kevon Looney — shot 22-65 (33.8%) from the floor in a rough opening for the team’s star players. Paul ignited the Warriors and the crowd with a big third-quarter, but still shot just 4-15 and missed all six of this three-point attempts.
Veteran shooting-guard Klay Thompson continued his struggles since preseason, shooting 6-18 and 3-11 from deep. Even two-time MVP Stephen Curry wasn’t immune to the issues, finishing 4-14 (28.6%) from three-point range despite his team-high 27 points.
Golden State will hope to rectify their shooting struggles when they visit Golden 1 Center for a meeting with the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.