Warriors comebacks falls short in fourth consecutive loss

Third and fourth-quarter comebacks almost saw the Warriors pull off an improbable win.

The biggest negative storyline for the Golden State Warriors this year — well, other than De’Anthony Melton’s season-ending ACL injury — has been a penchant for blowing big leads. On multiple occasions they’ve watched 30-point leads evaporate, only to hold on for dear life and escape with victory. And two of the losses on their recent skids came after holding double-digit leads in the second half.

On Saturday, visiting the Phoenix Suns, the Warriors tried to flip the script. Falling behind big and pulling off an impressive comeback surely wasn’t in Steve Kerr’s game plan, but it nearly worked. Twice!

The Warriors, opting for a new starting lineup of Steph Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, and Trayce Jackson-Davis, scored the first five points of the game, but then the Suns caught fire. Even with Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkić sidelined, Phoenix’s two-headed monster of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker — and their high-quality cast of role players — was more than enough for Phoenix to rattle off points. The teams went back and forth, but Phoenix ended on a flurry and a Booker three, and led 35-29 after the initial frame.

Back-to-back threes by Grayson Allen and Monte Morris opened up the second quarter, giving Phoenix a 9-0 run over the two frames. It took the Warriors more than two-and-a-half minutes to score in the quarter, but when Podziemski finally broke the seal with a pair of free throws, the Dubs rattled off an 8-2 run. But Phoenix answered with a 6-0 run of their own, and quickly had the lead well into double digits.

It was a valiant defensive effort by the Warriors, but the Suns simply refused to miss. And on the other end, the Dubs were creating fastbreak opportunities, but failing to convert. The deficit grew and grew, and when the halftime buzzer rang, the Suns had a very cushy 66-49 lead.

The Warriors had been dramatically out-shot in the half, with Phoenix making an eye-popping 14-of-21 shots from beyond the arc, with Golden State sitting at just 8-for-23. Most discouragingly, Curry only had two points, with both he and Jonathan Kuminga shooting 0-for-5.

But halftime brought about a fight. Kerr swapped in Kevon Looney for Jackson-Davis to begin the third quarter, and the Dubs came out firing. Curry drained a three, which was followed by a driving halfcourt dunk from Green, and an uncontested, transition dunk from Wiggins. The 7-0 run cut the lead to 10, and forced Mike Budenholzer to call a timeout less than two minutes into the frame.

The third-quarter execution was fantastic, but not enough to fully close the gap. Despite the strong defense, Phoenix was moving the ball around brilliantly, and making tough shots. And despite Golden State’s strong offensive execution, the Suns were able to deflect and block plenty of shots. The Warriors would get the deficit to single digits (largely behind 15 points in the quarter by Curry), but Phoenix always seemed to have an answer. Down 10 late in the third quarter, Buddy Hield drew a foul on Booker while shooting a three, and made all of the free throws, to make it an 85-78 deficit going into the final frame.

Or so it seemed. When the fourth quarter convened, the refs had a lengthy discussion and plenty of video review, before ultimately awarding Allen a pair of free throws before the action began. He made both, and it was a nine-point game.

The interesting fourth-quarter lineup of Hield, Wiggins, Looney, Lindy Waters III, and Pat Spencer moved the ball well, but seemed to have everything deflected by Phoenix’s athletic lineup. They couldn’t make much of a dent, and when Curry returned at the 7:30 mark, it was still a 10-point game. A few minutes later and it was a 17-point game, and it looked like it was time to wave the white flag.

But the Warriors didn’t, and it turned out they had a second comeback in them. Back-to-back layups by Curry and Kuminga made it a 13-point game with about four minutes left. A three by Wiggins made it an eight-point game with about two minutes left, then Kuminga picked a pocket and slammed home a vicious dunk. Somehow, some way, the 17-point deficit of a few minutes prior was whittled down to six points with 1:59 remaining.

Durant answered with a three, but the Warriors weren’t bothered by it. Kuminga made a layup, the Dubs forced an eight-second violation, and Curry made a quick layup on the other end. It was a five-point game with more than a minute remaining.

But Phoenix answered that by turning the made basket into a transition opportunity, with Booker earning a trip to the free throw line. After making both, it turned to desperation time for the Dubs, and they ran out of gas, limping to the finish line and losing 113-105 for their fourth consecutive defeat.

Despite the tough first half, Curry led the way with 23 points for the Warriors, while Wiggins dropped in 18. Green (13), Kuminga (12), Podziemski (12), and Hield (11) also tallied double figures.

While the Dubs held Durant and Booker to fairly inefficient nights, the All-Star duo still combined for 48 points. But with those two getting the bulk of Golden State’s defensive attention, it was the other starting perimeter scorers — Allen and Tyus Jones — who shined. Jones finished with 19 points and nine assists while shooting a blistering 7-for-9 from the field and 4-for-5 from deep, while Allen dropped in 17 points on 4-for-8 shooting, while making 3-of-6 from distance. Even without Beal, that was enough offensive firepower for the Suns.

With the loss, the Dubs fall to 12-7. They’ll try to break their losing streak on Tuesday, when they visit the Denver Nuggets.