The Golden State Warriors Klay Thompson (right) drives on the Phoenix Suns Mikal Bridges (left) in first half action at Walking Stick Arena in Phoenix on Tue Oct 25, 2022 (AP News photo)

Suns Wallop Golden State 134-105

By Barbara Mason

Tuesday night the Golden State Warriors (2-2) took on the Phoenix Suns (3-1) at Footprint Center. Both teams are coming off wins, the Warriors beating the Kings Sunday 130-125 and the Suns handling the Clippers 112-95 on Sun Oct 23. Golden State has struggled in transition and will be looking for some improvement against a very tough Phoenix Suns.

The Warriors got a fast start and led through the opening minutes before the Suns got going. With five minutes left in the first quarter the Suns had taken a ten point lead and after the first 12 minutes Phoenix held a 37-29 lead. The Warriors had shot at 46% and the Suns edged them slightly shooting at 48%.

In the Warriors last game, the second unit had struggled but in this outing these young guys were nothing short of terrific. This unit had cut the Suns lead from eight points to a tie game at 39 in the early minutes of the second quarter.

This game remained close with the Suns holding slim leads throughout the quarter. The Warriors Jordan Poole hit a three that was nullified by a shot clock violation in the closing seconds. The Suns Chris Paul hit a three with 0.5 seconds left on the clock and at the half, it was Phoenix with a 72-66 lea

The Suns Devon Booker led the Suns with 16 points scored. Poole had the point high off the bench with 14 points and Warrior guard Stephen Curry led the starting roster with 13 points.

The difference in the first half for the Warriors was points in the paint. James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga would need to step up in the second half. They would need some defensive excellence if they wanted to beat the Suns.

The Suns began to run away with the third quarter. They had an 11-0 run and led 94-77 with four minutes left in the third. A blow for the Warriors was the ejection of Klay Thompson, the first of his career. The Suns were getting to the free throw line in this game while the Warriors were not and that had a lot to do with the score of this game.

The Suns had shot 28 free throws in the first three quarters. At the end of the third quarter the Suns had a considerable lead 105-86. Phoenix had scored 33+ points in the first three quarters; they were in total command of this game.

Things began to get tight in the fourth quarter when the Warriors cut a 19 point Sun lead to 12. The Warriors were on a 7-0 run before the Suns began to push back leading 115-99 with under six minutes left in the game.

The Suns continued to extend their lead for the remainder of the game. Booker was relentless finishing with 34 points. The final was 134-105 in a dominating game by Phoenix. The Sun’s defense was just better than Golden State’s.

The high score for the Warriors was Curry with 21 points. It was a lackluster offensive effort from Golden State. They hung with the Suns in the first half but it all came apart in the second half.

Thursday night the Warriors will play Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat at Chase Center. Tipoff will be at 7:00 PM.