Warriors coach Keith Smart knew it was coming, which is why he
stopped short of declaring his team had arrived on defense. After
Monday’s 104-92 loss to Phoenix, it was clear why Smart was
conservative. The Suns, led by a Hall of Fame-bound point guard in
Steve Nash, were a different beast than the Chicago Bulls squad the
Warriors tamed on Saturday.
OAKLAND
Warriors coach Keith Smart knew it was coming, which is why he stopped short of declaring his team had arrived on defense.
After Monday’s 104-92 loss to Phoenix, it was clear why Smart was conservative. The Suns, led by a Hall of Fame-bound point guard in Steve Nash, were a different beast than the Chicago Bulls squad the Warriors tamed on Saturday.
The Suns shot 50 percent for the first three quarters and finished with six players in double figures, leaving the Warriors scrambling all over the court. And the Warriors didn’t have the offense to keep up.
Guard Monta Ellis led the Warriors with 21 points and 12 rebounds, but he was 5 for 17 from the field. David Lee had 16 points and 10 rebounds, but he didn’t score in the second half. Point guard Stephen Curry had 15 points and eight assists, but he was 0 for 6 from 3-point range with five turnovers. Small forward Dorell Wright needed 13 shots to get nine points.
The Warriors’ best offensive option was swingman Reggie Williams, who scored 19 points on 10 shots in 30 minutes. But by the time he got going, the lead was too large to overcome.
Smart said he was concerned about how drastic a different opponent Phoenix would be, as the Bulls and the Suns are about as contrasting as any two teams in the league. The Warriors had to go from protecting the paint to guarding the three-point line. They had to switch from a grind-it-out physical game to a wide-open finesse match.
Against Chicago, the Warriors were worried about big man Carlos Boozer dominating the paint. Against Phoenix, the concern was big man Channing Frye getting open looks from behind the arc.
Against Chicago, the Warriors game-planned to keep Derrick Rose from getting into the lane and scoring. Against Phoenix, the Warriors were more concerned with Nash’s passing and his ability to get others going.
“With Nash, he puts a little bit more pressure,” Smart said. “Not really trying to score but trying to bait you into over-helping on him to free up his 3-point shooters. They want to get the ball up and down the floor and go for the three-point shot as quick as they can. And he’s going to be the catalyst for pushing that tempo.”
The Warriors couldn’t stop it for most of the game. Nash finished with 15 assists and 14 points. Phoenix knocked down 13 3-pointers. The Suns supporting cast got into a groove: Frye had 19 points, former Warrior Mickael Pietrus had 12, and Jared Dudley also had 12.
The result was a deficit as large as 23.
Finally, in the fourth quarter, the Warriors defense made some headway. Phoenix was 6-for-24 from the field in the final period with six turnovers. And the Warriors finally mustered some offense to put a scare into Phoenix.
The Warrior trailed by 16 early in the fourth when they put together an 11-0 run to get back in the game. Rookie big Ekpe Udoh got it going with consecutive baskets inside. Ellis capped it with a pair of free throws to cut Phoenix’s lead to 93-88 with 4:42 left in the game.
But Nash answered by finding Frye for a 3-pointer. After Vladimir Radmanovic missed a 3-pointer (Golden State was 2-for-18 from behind the arc), Frye followed with a long 2-pointer.
Ellis’ rushed pull-up jumper clanked, and Nash came down and nailed a 3-pointer. In a minute and 35 seconds, the Suns’ lead was back up to 13.
The Suns’ spread-out offense gave the Warriors fits early on. The Warriors went from all but shutting down the Bulls, one of the better teams in the East, to looking all but helpless against the Suns, one of the mediocre teams in the West.
Before the Warriors could work up a sweat, they were down 12. While Golden State missed six of its first eight shots from the field, the Suns made their first five shots, three from behind the arc. Two of the 3-pointers were made by Frye, the latter coming at the 8:04 mark of the first quarter and put the Warriors down 16-4.
It set the tone for the rest of the half. The Warriors trailed 33-17 by the end of the first quarter. Golden State trailed by as much as 20 in the second quarter as Phoenix diced up the Warriors defense.
At one point, the Suns had 19 assists (eight by Nash) on 20 baskets and were shooting 56.8 percent. Meanwhile, the Warriors struggled to get anything going on offense, hovering below 40 percent most of the first half.
Lee was 7-for-13 shooting with 16 points in the first half. The rest of the Warriors were 11-for-32 from the field (34.4 percent). The combination of a struggling offense and ineffective defense led to a 62-45 halftime deficit.
— Story by Marcus Thompson II, Contra Costa Times
