SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors’ defense, which was so pivotal in their win over the best team in the NBA two days prior, apparently didn’t have a ticket for Friday’s showdown against the Phoenix Suns.
Golden State’s offense also was a bit iffy at times, but it was the defense’s inability to make consistent stops that helped sink the Warriors and propelled the Suns to a 130-105 win before a solemn crowd at Chase Center.
“They made a lot of tough shots, but it’s our job to make them miss those shots,” Warriors guard Moses Moody said. “We definitely could have done better on that side of the ball.”
Phoenix boasts two of the top 11 scorers in the NBA this season with Devin Booker and former Warriors star Kevin Durant, as potent a one-two combo as there is against any opponent.
Golden State – specifically Moody – did a fairly good job against Durant until Durant’s flurry toward the end of the third quarter.
As a team, however, the Warriors couldn’t find a way to slow down Booker. He scored 31 points and had 11 assists.
Unlike two days earlier, when the Warriors won despite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s big night with 52 points, this was not a one-man show. As tough as Durant and Booker were to defend, it was the other Suns who came through and benefited from the Warriors’ lack of defense.
Suns center Nick Richards notched his eighth double-double of the 2024-25 NBA season with 14 points and 16 rebounds. Bradley Beal and Grayson Allen combined for 32 points off the bench on a night when the Suns’ reserves outscored the Warriors’ bench 56-49.
As a team, Phoenix shot better than 56 percent and held a 56-36 scoring advantage in the paint.
“Different teams all have things that they’re good at. They hit a lot of shots tonight,” Moody said. “[Against OKC it was] more ball dominant with Shai. We were able, not to contain him, but contain the game with that strategy.”
Whatever the strategy the Warriors tried against the Suns didn’t work out well.
Phoenix matched its second-highest scoring total of the season, tallied nearly 18 points more than its season average and put up more than 125 points for only the fourth time this season.
Part of the problem, Golden State coach Steve Kerr said, was the Warriors didn’t play well enough offensively to take some of the pressure off the defense.
“I just thought our offense didn’t help our defense, and once [the Suns] got out of the gate they were tough to stop,” Kerr said. “They had a great night.”
The one bright spot, if there was one, was the way Moody defended Durant. The 6-foot-5 veteran guard was in Durant’s chest for much of the night, forcing the Suns star into difficult decisions.
At one point, Durant tried to slap Moody’s hands away, and when he wasn’t successful, Durant turned to a referee to complain. Whatever he was saying fell on deaf ears.
Durant still finished with 19 points and made five threes, but also had one of his toughest shooting nights in the past month (6 of 13, 46.2 percent).
“It’s tough to deal with him if he gets the position that he wants, so he can get to spots and shoot over you,” Moody said. “If you can fight early on you can get an advantage. That was my mindset going into it, being physical.”
Moody had it going on both ends of the floor. When he wasn’t getting into Durant’s chest as a defender, Moody was one of the Warriors’ most consistent scorers. He shot 5 of 10, made four 3-pointers and finished with 17 points, his most since he had a season-high 19 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Dec. 30.
Help may be coming soon for Golden State’s defense.
Draymond Green, who has missed the Warriors last seven games with a calf strain, has resumed on-court work and might be ready to play soon.
“He scrimmaged today and he will practice with us tomorrow,” Kerr said. “We’re expecting him to play next week some time. Not sure which game, but we’ll see how he comes out. He’s on the right track.”