The Golden State Warriors squeaked out a victory against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night, although they made it harder on themselves with a problem that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.
A win is a win and it was good to see the Warriors get back into the win column after two disappointing efforts on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers -- two what should have/are inferior teams.
Warriors must be better in putting their opponents away when on the ropes
However, they let Phoenix stay in the game deep into the fourth quarter which forced them to bring star point guard Stephen Curry back into the game. With the way the roster is constructed, they cannot put that much stress on their stars continually.
Curry was forced to play 34 minutes on the night and will miss Wednesday night's game against the Sacramento Kings due to an illness. Perhaps the 37-year-old would have sat against Sacramento even if he hadn't been forced to come back into the game when things got tight, but it does not help matters when the Warriors are unable to close out opponents.
With Golden State's roster being on the older side, the team needs to take advantage of every opportunity possible to give the stars on the team some rest. Jimmy Butler played the first half against Phoenix but sat the second as he deals with a back issue, something that might have been somewhat precautionary with the Warriors having a sizeable lead at halftime.
Nevertheless, the Warriors will now be without Curry and Butler on Wednesday night which creates an opportunity for younger players like Jonathan Kuminga to step up and carry the team.
Still, over the course of a long and arduous season the Warriors are going to have to improve at putting teams away when they have them on the ropes. It's obviously much easier said than done, but every extra minute that their stars are out on the floor could create problems for the team later this year in terms of fatigue and/or injuries.
The key for the Warriors this year is to make it to the playoffs with their stars as healthy as possible, so putting games away is going to have to be a priority going forward.
Whether it is head coach Steve Kerr giving a fiery speech or the bench players doing a better performances from their bench and/or young players, the team has to find a way to improve in this department.