Suns dominated by Curry and Warriors
OAKLAND, Calif. – Stephen Curry scored 15 of his 29 points in the third quarter and also had eight assists, leading the Golden State Warriors past the Phoenix Suns 123-103 on Monday night.
Kevin Durant scored 22 points and Draymond Green dished out eight of 35 assists for the two-time defending NBA champions. Coach Steve Kerr had been disappointed in his team’s passing, rushed shots and ball movement so far.
“I’d like to get great shots instead of decent ones,” Kerr said. “Right now we’re settling for decent ones.”
Kerr might be pleased with the progress: The Warriors shot 51.1 percent in the second of a back-to-back following a two-point loss at Denver on Sunday, which came after a one-point win Friday at Utah.
The Warriors won a 16th straight against Phoenix, their longest unbeaten run against a single team in franchise history. Golden State’s 14 straight home victories versus the Suns is a new franchise mark, as well.
Klay Thompson scored 16 points but missed his initial four 3-point tries and finished 1 of 6 from deep, making him 3 for 22 through four games.
New Golden State starting center Damian Jones dunked three times in the initial 4:03 – a pair of them on alley-oops – and Durant had one in transition, too. Phoenix called timeout down 12-7 at the 7:34 mark after KD’s slam.
Jones also added an early threepoint play on a putback and finished with 13 points. He had nine and four rebounds in the opening eight minutes.
Devin Booker scored 28 points, TJ Warren had 27 off the bench and Deandre Ayton added 20 points and 14 rebounds for Phoenix.
“We are playing the best team in the world,” Suns coach Igor Kokoskov said.
Curry shot 11 for 18 with six 3-pointers. He had scored 30 or more points in each of his initial three games this season but didn’t play the entire fourth quarter Monday.
Tip-ins
Suns: Phoenix was outrebounded 17-6 in the opening quarter. … While G Troy Daniels had been cleared from the concussion protocol as of Monday morning, he did not play.